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The Boyneside Slane Castle is an iconic Irish landmark, drawing the world's biggest rock stars, says Lucinda O’Sullivan. Now, with a massive distillery launching this month, and two restaurants open, she just had to check it out.

With good seafood, price can often be an issue, says Lucinda O’Sullivan. However, Niall Sabongi has just opened his new sassy seafood shack, Klaw Poke on Capel Street, offering premium poisson at a practical price

Roberta's, the latest venture of the ever current Press Up Group, is a surefire hit, says Lucinda O’Sullivan. With a fantastic vibe, great food and an aesthetic that's overflowing with style, book a table at Dublin's latest hotspot.

Set across a sprawling estate, Screebe House in Connemara is no ordinary getaway, says Lucinda O’Sullivan. From food to furnishings to facilities and fab service, this one gets five stars across the board.

After years of belly-busting brunches with an ocean of cocktails, Sunday roast lunch has finally made a comeback, says Lucinda O’Sullivan. For a great afternoon bite, without the haute hipster nonsense, check out the Sivad Grill

Stunningly situated on the banks of Blessington Lakes and with fab views of the Wicklow Mountains, Tulfarris Hotel & Golf Resort boasts some of the most spectacular atmospheric scenery that Ireland has to offer.

Having spent almost three decades perfecting her culinary art, Chef Maria Raftery has gone out on her own, says Lucinda O’Sullivan, who couldn't wait to try the new Kernel Bar & Kitchen in the heart of the old city.

Steeped in Irish history and culture, Killarney has always been a popular spot for tourists. There’s so much to see and do in the surrounding area, from touring the ring of Kerry, to exploring Killarney National Park, to visiting historic sites.

Having loved her past visits to the historic Cahernane House in Killarney, Lucinda O’Sullivan was delighted to be returning to check out the renovations and to try their new chef's fab contemporary cuisine.

With 17 years under her belt as Head Chef at Zuni in Kilkenny, Maria Raftery has a fine culinary reputation and following in the city. However, most chefs dream of having their own restaurant, and, when the opportunity arose to do so, Raftery ran with it.

Having exploded with life and culture in the boom, Malahide’s happening reputation had waned, says Lucinda O’Sullivan. Now, Old Street, with its fab new-wave food and design, is bringing the cool edge back to town.

Being reviewed on the first night of opening might scare the pants off some restaurateurs, says Lucinda O’Sullivan, but, the new Nightmarket in Ranelagh should have nothing to fear besides stampedes of eager diners.

As we rolled over another humpback bridge, Sir said tersely, "is it Bridgetown or Brigadoon we’re in search of?" The SatNav had led us on a merry dance, passing shortcuts that would be familiar to locals, but I was on a mission to find Button & Spoon

An impressive set of pictures, tweeted by the chef of Duende in Drogheda, drew Lucinda O’Sullivan like a moth to a flame. The food and service were good, but the lunchtime menu didn’t exactly set her world alight

Having worked at Ottolenghi's and the Petersham Nurseries, Richard Gleeson returned to the green fields of Tipp to fulfil his dreams, establishing the new Dooks Fine Foods in Fethard, says Lucinda O’Sullivan.

The arrival of Rachel Allen's first solo restaurant adventure has been eagerly awaited in Cork, says Lucinda O’Sullivan, who hot-footed it to the rebel city to try the sassy cocktails and high-class menu at the brand new Rachel's

There weren’t many Michelin stars floating around Ireland when Patrick Guilbaud showed up, says Lucinda O’Sullivan. Three decades on, his name, and the stars it carries, are synonymous with the best of Irish cuisine.

Topping the National Geographic's 17 for 2017 Cool List, Donegal is officially the coolest place on the planet, not just for its fab scenery and proximety to the Wild Atlantic Way, but for it's warmth & hospitality.

With a somewhat stagnant foodie scene, Cork isn’t the culinary hotspot it once was, says Lucinda O’Sullivan. However, Bryan McCarthy, Head Chef of Greene’s and the new Cask at Hotel Isaacs, is just the man to shake things up.

Innovative Chef Keith Boyle is no stranger to the Waterford dining scene, says Lucinda O’Sullivan, and his new venture, The Bay Tree on Merchants Quay, is a fantastic 3-floor undertaking that’s sure to make a big splash.

Having loved everything about it when I had first visited, I was finally back on what is one of the best terraces in Dublin, located to the rear of one of the citys fine Georgian houses, Suesey Street - which indeed was the original name for Leeson Street

Set on 26 acres of beautifully maintained gardens, which lead onto the banks of the famous River Shannon, as soon as we set foot on the Grounds of the Castle Oaks House Hotel, we knew that we’d picked a winner.

Kilkenny has become a fab foodie destination with artisan producers and Michelin stars aplenty, says Lucinda O’Sullivan. Anocht, at the Kilkenny Design Centre, is the perfect place to try some of the best of modern Ireland.

On a recent excursion west, we found ourselves overnighting in Castlebar and in search of an evening bite. After 20 minutes or so of humming and hawing, we stumbled across Dining Room, on Bridge Street, and decided to give it a go.

During the week, 64 Wine is already a bastion of great wines, artisan small plates and sharing boards, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, and now this fabulous wine bar has added a superb repertoire of hot specials to its weekend menu.

With a relaxed charm and an effortless, welcoming atmosphere, the Republic Bar & Grill in Ballincollig, Co. Cork, was the perfect respite after a morning and afternoon spent wheeling around the rebel county.

If you’re thinking of heading south-west in search of respite or adventure, then set your sat nav for Charleville, Co. Cork. In the heart of Munster, Charleville is a terrific spot, with plenty of craic to be had, and well worth the pilgrimage.

Bagots Hutton, located on the capital's quays, is a fantastic new undertaking, featuring a cafe, bar, restaurant and nightclub, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, who found herself delighted from antipasti right through to dolci.

With V-Day upon us, lots of folks will be panicking and rethinking the cheap bouquets and ambitious kitchen plans, says Lucinda O’Sullivan. For anyone still twiddling their thumbs, check out her 12 romantic hot spots.

Making a success of a basement restaurant in a not-so-salubrious neighbourhood is a challenge, says Lucinda O’Sullivan. However, this new venture may have just what it takes, with excellent food and retro sweet treats

With a host of great eateries already in situ, a newbie has to be pretty damn good to survive in Monkstown, says Lucinda O'Sullivan. Lobstar, the latest to plant its flag, has personality, style and some really good food.

I love the way dining styles have evolved in Ireland over the years with todays mode of choice being much more casual fare, though painstakingly and expertly prepared, served up with really good imported wines.

With a new name and chef attached, she couldn't wait to get back up to Mulberry's, now Dulse, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, who, after making a beeline out West, discovered that the new chef had already departed.

When I first visited David Whelehan’s vast new wine emporium in the bleak first days of January 2015, one half of me thought ‘this place is amazing’, while the other half wondered if he wasn’t a bit mad….

The new Ember Restaurant looked trendy and was serving up some tasty, top-notch fine dining on their opening night, says Lucinda O'Sullivan. Watch this space, it's sure to be deep in hipsters and cool cats in no time.

When David Whelehan took on the derelict Silver Tassie pub, she wasn't sure how he'd fare, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, but today his fab Whelehans Wines has brought the world's best wines to Loughlinstown, along with great food.

The Four Seasons Ballsbridge was a boom-years hub for the who's-who and elite hobnobbers, but it lost its cool before departing in 2014, says Lucinda O'Sullivan. However, the fabulous new Intercontinental Hotel has brought the A-list back.

After 12 months of the good, the bad and the Donald, Lucinda O'Sullivan, with a rocking Chinese, a Michelin starred market cafe, and the irrepressible Prez, gives you her 12 hottest dining experiences of 2016

Hotel dining has come a long way in a short time, says Lucinda O’Sullivan, and, at the fab Owenmore Restaurant in Ballynahinch Castle, Chef Ultan Cooke’s contemporary cuisine is definitely a contender for best in the west.

Dingle is certainly one of Ireland’s most beautiful spots, drawing holidaymakers from near and far to witness the kind of idyllic beautiful scenery that captured the worlds hearts in the classic film Ryan’s Daughter.

A true Yuletide shopping spree wouldn't be complete without a festive foodie pit-stop, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, and, with so much great food and drink to choose from these days, December's diners are sure to be merry

On a late summer afternoon, whilst adventuring along the Wild Atlantic Way, we came across the wonderful Connemara Greenway Café & Restaurant on the Main Street in Oughterard, and, feeling a tad peckish, we were more than happy to stop and check it out.

Set in Dublin’s fab Westbury Hotel, Wilde restaurant has had a major makeover, says Lucinda O’Sullivan, and, with its glamorous new 30s-style retro look, not to mention great food, it’s sure to be more popular than ever.

After all the hard work of shopping up and down Grafton Street, Café en Seine was the perfect place for friend Mary and I to grab lunch on a recent day in town. A hotspot at any time of the day, Café en Seine is a treasure trove of great food and drink.

Tapas and small plate dining has taken the foodie world by storm, and, when it's done right, it’s a fantastic, social way to eat and to try out lots of different dishes. House of Plates in Castlebar, Co. Mayo is the perfect example of this.

Opium Asian Restaurant & Cocktail Bar, has been hot and happening since the day it opened its Wexford Street doors.
I stopped in with friend Paul when it first opened to find all sorts of cool dudes, long legged blondes and rock band types sussing it out

We’ve had the gastropub and now it’s the gastroclub. I love the notion of good restaurant-style food being served in casual surroundings, so do many others, which is why Michelin starred chefs worldwide are rapidly turning to this ever-growing market.

Ireland abounds with beautiful old heritage houses and castles and if many of them could speak for themselves no doubt the tales they would tell would be fantastic. One of the best is Kilronan Castle In Ballyfarnon, Co. Roscommon.

For whatever dubious reason, getting Michelin recognition in Ireland is like Mission Impossible, says Lucinda O’Sullivan. Fortunately, Kilkenny’s fab Campagne is one of the few to get its rightful place among the stars.

Having reviewed Marcel’s in its original location on Mary’s Road and really liked its Franco Moroccan style colours and furnishings, I visited its new location on Merrion Row, in the buzzy heart of what's called the Golden Mile around St. Stephen's Green

Since hitting the ground running in 2009, the fab Pichet has gone from strength to strength, keeping high the bar of good food in Ireland and continuing to be one of the hottest spots in Dublin City, and lately it’s had a major makeover.

I'm rather partial to French food at all levels, which is why I love the whole extravagant French bistro vibe and ambiance of The Green Hen, not to mention the food. Located right beside the well known Old Stand Pub on Exchequer Street in Dublin City

Neven Maguire is far more than one of Ireland’s best-known chefs, more importantly, he is one of Ireland’s best loved chefs. His smiling face and down to earth approach, have earned him a legion of fans.

East Side Tavern is set in what was once O’Dwyer’s pub on the corner of Leeson Street and St. Stephen’s Green East. This was a real hot spot in the 60’s and 70’s with students, politicians, and literary figures such as Brendan Behan and Patrick Kavanagh

I’ve had a lot of bad food dished up in the name of Japan in recent years, from soggy tempura prawns to bad takeaway Chinese style stirfries. So, it was rather nice then to discover Eatokyo, a delightful new noodle and sushi bar on Wellington Quay.

Tucked away, up a steep staircase, in the very heart of D4, is a hidden gem. “Who is Michael Sabik?”, you might ask. He’s not a guy who seeks the limelight, he just keeps his head down and works in his kitchen.

We have lots of Italian restaurants in Ireland, though many are of the pizza/pasta fast food variety, says Lucinda O'Sullivan. However, from gnocchi to scalloppina, Rosa Madre on Dublin's Crow Street offers a true taste of Italy.

The classic refined lunchtime took a beating in recent years in favour of a pulled pork roll or or a bowl of noodles at the desk, says Lucinda O’Sullivan. However, fab, fancy fare and lavish lunchtimes are back on the rise

Unable to stand the heat, restaurateur after restaurateur have abandoned the kitchen at Charlotte Quay Dock, says Lucinda. Will the latest crew to house their colours here have the right brand of cool?

With great food and clearly a lot of effort and thought from the kitchen staff, Lucinda O’Sullivan was disappointed by the abysmal front of house service upon her arrival at the new Fishbone in Clontarf

Set on the doorstep of the Lakes of Killarney, with breath taking views of the mountains beyond, is the beautiful and luxurious Cahernane House Hotel, with a fascinating history that goes all the way back to the War of the Roses.

There’s so much fab modern innovative Asian cuisine to explore these days, says Lucinda O’Sullivan, but a visit to Zen Restaurant in Rathmines, with all the feeling of a bad 80’s time warp, left her longing to get back to the future.

I love good Indian food, but unfortunately good Indian food can be hard to find, with lots of operations being of the fatty fast food variety. So, when I find somewhere good, I can’t wait to sing its praises, and this is just the case at the Cream Room.

With the sun shining brightly and the wicked month of August truly at its height, Lucinda O'Sullivan suggests 10 top spots in unique settings to help you make the most of summer, with as much great food, and fun, as possible.

Kinsale has always been a beacon of great food and hospitality – Whether it’s fancy and formal or trendy and casual. Tom Kay’s Supper Club, on Cork Street, is definitely the latter. It’s laid back, funky and informal, and I love it.

Whether it’s kids or couples, Fota Island in East Cork is a great spot for a summer getaway, says Lucinda O’Sullivan, and the new Amber Lounge at the Fota Island Resort is the perfect place for a casual bite pre or post safari!

Returning for the first time since they were awarded their Michelin Star,
Lucinda O’Sullivan was once again blown away by the service, style and cuisine at the Lady Helen Restaurant in the fab Mount Juliet, Co.Kilkenny

Social eating is the latest trend to break out in the foodie world, says Lucinda O’Sullivan. It’s about putting all the hip aspects of the food and drink scene under one roof and creating one stop shops for socialising

Kinsale is, and always has been, one of my favorite places in the world to be. Besides the historic beauty of the town and the wonderful summer atmosphere that it seems to maintain year round, Kinsale is a bastion of good service and great food.

When James Sheridan and Soizic Humbert opened there first Canteen, in the Blackrock Market, they made a splash right away, says Lucinda O’Sullivan, who couldn’t wait to get through the doors of their new Canteen Celbridge.

When it comes to pushing the boundaries of contemporary cuisine, there's a fine line between fusion and confusion, says Lucinda O'Sullivan. Unfortunately, The Coburg at the Conrad Dublin has crossed that line.

Cork hasn’t always been a trendsetter when it comes to Irish dining, says Lucinda O’Sullivan. But, lately, they’ve been riding a wave of hip, casual, unpretentious street food that’s as tasty as it is cheap

With a pedigree in Italian food, great things were expected from James Cirillo’s eponymous new Dublin restaurant, says Lucinda O’Sullivan, and with authentic food in a cool setting, she wasn’t let down

Things got off to a slightly rocky start at the new Forest & Marcy on Dublin's Upper Leeson Street, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, but it soon became smooth sailing, as Ciaran Sweeney's outstanding food couldn't but impress

The level of choice in this country, when it comes to varied cuisine, has really taken leaps and bounds forward. With the ever-growing foodie culture showing no signs of slowing down, we’ve never had so much choice where good food is concerned.

With 143 branches in the UK, the new Zizzi pizza & pasta restaurant has just opened at Dundrum Town Centre, says Lucinda O’Sullivan. But, after her visit, she couldn’t help feeling perhaps she’d found a weak link in this chain

Some people don’t like Indian food, some people don’t like Chinese food but pretty well everybody loves Thai food. Saba, which means ‘happy meeting place’, is one of the great success stories and consequently celebrating its tenth birthday this year.

Competition in Dublin’s dining scene has never been hotter and, amongst the dining destinations vying for your attention in the city centre, Fire Restaurant at the top of Dawson Street, burns as brightly as any.

The Two Cooks Restaurant & Wine Bar in Sallins, Co.Kildare, is turning up the heat in the kitchen, Says Lucinda O’Sullivan, with a tip top husband and wife cheffing team proving that two heads are better than one

The gastro pub revolution has seen a dramatic change in the way in which we view pub grub in this country. The bar has been raised, so to speak, and, while some establishments have not met the challenge, others have exceeded expectations.

It’s hard to beat good Indian food. The fantastic palate of spices employed by Indian cuisine brings out flavours and taste sensations that are indescribably splendid, and really tough to find anywhere else.

With a fine pedigree in Asian food, Ricky and Jules Mak have let their imaginations roam free at their fabulous new restaurant, Wanderlust, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, who adored their casual food from all over the world.

Our passion for spicy food is ever-growing and the notion of the old bog standard Indian Takeaway has come along way with some of the newer ones offering superb restaurant standard food to eat at home.

Eddie and Jenny Ong Chok Fong's Aroi eatery in Limerick hit the nail on the head when it opened two years ago, says Lucinda. So, when she heard they had opened their doors in Kilkenny, she could'nt wait to drop in...

It’s amazing how far Ireland’s Thai scene has come, says Lucinda O’Sullivan. With fabulous places like Saba, which has a new branch on Dublin’s Upper Baggot Street, it seems that the shameless slop houses of the Celtic Tiger are a thing of the past

A good Italian meal is one of the best and undeniably most romantic ways to spend an evening, says Lucinda O’Sullivan, and luckily, in Ireland, we have a fantastic selection of ristorantes, pizzerias and trattorias to choose from

Sunil Ghai’s new venture, Pickle Eating House & Bar on Dublin’s Camden Street, is an authentic and absolutely fabulous taste of the old Irani cafes of Bombay, says Lucinda O’Sullivan, so book your passage to India now.

In recent years, there has been a huge resurgence in people’s desire for fresh, locally sourced food that is high in quality, made from scratch and truly tasty. The Mystic Celt Restaurant in Wicklow Town answers this call.

Sooner or later, every ambitious chef wants to take a chance on their own restaurant, says Lucinda O’Sullivan. Philip Yeung’s new Craft, with the cool vibe and ambience of a little Parisian bistro, is a gamble that’s sure to pay off

With good food at good prices, the new Monto Cafe Restaurant & Steakhouse on Dublin’s Camden Street is well worth a visit, says Lucinda O’Sullivan — but sadly the waiter’s lack of warmth left a bad taste in her mouth . . .

I spend a lot of time on the road looking at restaurants and hotels and when it comes to lunchtime I am always hungry. We very often travel the road between Limerick and Cork which is how we found the Four Winds Bar and Lounge in Charleville.

Looking for romance? Lucinda O'Sullivan says the fabulous Pullman Restaurant at Galway's Glenlo Abbey Hotel, set within two of the original carriages from the world famous Orient Express, is a one-of-kind dining experience

Things got off to a great start at the stylish new Union Cafe in Stillorgan, Co Dublin, says Lucinda O’Sullivan — however, three battered-to-death pieces of ‘hake scampi’ left her wishing she had let her husband have it

The dining room at the Dawson Hotel, formerly La Stampa,on Dublin’s Dawson Street, has had a lot of ambitious suitors, says Lucinda O’Sullivan, but the latest, The Seafood Bar by Wright’s of Howth, might just be ‘the one’

It may have started with one small cafe, but 20 premises later, Brambles has become a household name. No two quiches will ever be the same, say Ciaran and Maeve Reid, because everything is made by hand.

The cheffing team at the new Avalon in Donnybrook did more than break a leg for opening night, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, if the nightly performance is as good as on her visit, the curtain call won't be anytime soon

There’s nothing like having a really good reliable neighbourhood restaurant on your doorstep to slip down to on a regular basis, be it for breakfast or brunch, for a casual bite in the evening or all those family occasions.

Blackrock was definitely in need of a good restaurant that appeals to families and diners of all ages, and now it has it, says Lucinda O’Sullivan, following her visit to the new Rage flame-grilled restaurant

Galway has always been a very popular tourist destination and the perfect base for exploring Connemara and the Wild Atlantic Way but, over the last couple of years, it has also really stepped up its game on the food front.

Galway's restaurant scene has really kicked it up a notch in recent times, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, following her visit to Gerry Barret's massive new industrial-warehouse-style gastrobar on Merchant's Road

Making my way back from an afternoon of retail therapy in the Kildare outlet, myself and a pal headed for Lock 13 Gastro Pub and Craft Beer House, on the banks of the Grand Canal in the very pretty village of Sallins, Co. Kildare

Once a year, we all get a chance to start over again, a chance to reset our hopes and goals, put the past aside and to approach the future with optimism - and New Year's Eve has always been a celebration of that.

Upon arriving at Loko in Waterford, Lucinda O’Sullivan was amused by the enormous effort that has clearly been put into making it seem casual and effortless, If only they put as much thought into the food...

'Just knock three times and whisper low, that you and I were sent by Joe . . ." There's a real whiff of Hernando's Hideaway to the new Cavern, a wine bar on Upper Baggot Street. It is the sort of place that you think you have discovered all by yourself an

Finding it difficult to choose from their extensive, authentic menu of tagines, Lucinda O’Sullivan was delighted by the food and atmosphere at the new Kenz Moroccan Restaurant & Takeaway in Blackrock, Co. Dublin

To celebrate World Animal Week 4th – 10th October coinciding with the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals on October 4th, the ISPCA is launching a social media campaign and asking all animal lovers to Join Our Fight to #EndCruel

With a great new team now in the saddle,the legendary Unicorn Restaurant, just off D2’s vibrant Merrion Row, is back to its best, with fantastic food, superb service and a wonderful atmosphere, says Lucinda O’Sullivan

Having purchased the former Lodge at Doonbeg, in Co. Clare, for a cool €15m, Lucinda O’Sullivan wondered what plans ‘The Donald’ had in store for the fabulous estate that completes his so-called ‘Trump Triangle’

The sun hasn't shone on us much this summer, but when did we ever really need the sun to have a good time? For us, the sun has always just been a bonus! There are still two weeks in which to have a really great time before the kids go back to school.

The new Jules Restaurant, on Dublin's Dame Street, may have some pedigree when it comes to its foodie history and ambience, but the only thing modern about the menu are the prices, says Lucinda O'Sullivan

Last Tuesday saw the launch of Create at Brown Thomas, showcasing and celebrating the works and talent of some 50 Irish designers and craftspeople. The event will run until August 16 in Dublin, with pop-ups also taking place in BTs in Cork and Limerick

The notion of a lovely al fresco summer supper had certainly appealed, but the artic weather on the day, called for an indoor venue offering protection from the elements! We spotted the perfect answer; Mykonos.

Not everybody has it in them to be a true hotelier - let alone a five-star hotelier. You have to have that innate ability to be a people person, to be out there greeting and interacting with your guests, not hiding in an office writing reports.

With cool, retro-modern décor, (wood and open brick meet chrome) and stunning views out over Galway Bay and Blackrock, not to mention some of freshest and best seafood you will ever taste, the Fisherman Seafood Bar and Grill has become a real hotspot.

With an elegance and old world charm, that makes you feel as though you’ve stepped into a French chateau, the Roseville Rooms restaurant at the fabulous Faithlegg House Hotel & Golf Resort, in Co. Waterford, is undoubtedly a great place to eat.

I must confess I had steam coming out of my ears by the time I'd arrived at the new Carluccio's, which has just opened in Glasthule, Co Dublin. I'd called up to book a table but was told they were not taking bookings for the first few nights,only walk-ins

To commemorate the Official Visit of the Prince of Wales, Price Charles & Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall to Galway on Monday next May 19th ; a special “Royal Afternoon Tea “ will be available at Hotel Meyrick, overlooking Eyre Square.

We've had the gastropub and now it's the gastroclub. I love the notion of good restaurant-style food being served in casual surroundings, as do many others, which is why Michelin-starred chefs worldwide are rapidly turning to this burgeoning market...

Since hitting the ground running some five years ago, the fab Pichet has gone from strength to strength, keeping high the bar of good food in Ireland and continuing to be one of the hottest spots in Dublin City.

The Pavilion, at the University of Limerick is one of the best multi purpose venues in Ireland. Wonderfully modern and fantastically equipped, The Pavilion is proudly operated by Pat O’Sullivan’s Masterchefs Hospitality.

The gastro pub has taken Ireland by storm these last few years, marrying really well prepared and sourced foods with the relaxed atmosphere of a pub setting. Bobby Byrne’s in Limerick City is a perfect example of this.

Beautifully situated, with fantastic views looking out over Dublin Bay and the inescapable freshness of the sea air, is Bay restaurant, which, from the moment I walked through the door, was a pleasure to visit.

Bread and wine are two of the great joys in life; both almost as old as time, both loved unreservedly more than ever. And now we are out of the recession, there has been a great resurgence in the opening of standalone wine shops and artisan bakeries arou

Here we are on Mother's Day - and hopefully the lady of the manor is being spoiled rotten. However, women always have to think ahead for 'high days and holy days', and, with Paddy's Day on top of us, the question du jour is: "Are you having bacon and cab

Twirling my fork languorously through luscious ribbons of fettucine and popping the results of my efforts into my mouth, almost caused a When Harry Met Sally moment! There's a US TV show, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and such establishments are hot as he

Knitting has become hugely popular again over the past few years and when I heard about Winnie’s Craft Cafe, I was excited to pay a visit. What I found there was a whole other world of fabulous wools and crafts in a wonderful and welcoming café setting.

On a recent cross-country sojourn, we stopped for dinner at the Eastern Tandoori Restaurant in Galway and we were certainly glad that we did. An evening spent enjoying really good Indian food is amongst my very favourite things to do.

What's in a name? Well, marketing people would say that your business moniker is very important in luring people across your doorstep. The name needs to be appropriate to the type of customer you want to attract....

David Dennison has been a well-known name on the food and wine scene in Waterford for many years. He formerly had The Wine Vaults, a popular restaurant and wine business on the city's historic High Street, which sadly closed just as the recession hit

Many of us will be overindulging in chocolate this Valentine's weekend as hopefully our beloveds will have done the decent thing by stumping up for chocolates to go with the red roses! Chocolates and roses have always been associated with love....

At the tender age of 15, Antonio Cavaliere left his home in Italy to join his older brother, who was already working in Quo Vadis, a well-known Italian restaurant in Dublin, which operated for many years in St Andrew's Street.

Right in the heart of Dublin’s City Centre, at the Chester Beatty Library in the grounds of Dublin Castle, is a very special café, which has been delighting its patrons with a fantastic array of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean foods.

Beeftro, a steak house with a French twist, opened just over a year ago in Dundrum Town Centre. Describing itself as a purveyor of ‘Viandes de Qualite’, the idea started originally in Monaco and now has branches from Mexico to Moscow.

A new chapter for this... East Side Story
A legendary Dublin pub has reopened with a cool new style, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, who was impressed by the ethereal delights of woodruff and sorrel in a dessert that tasted of springtime

At the Lyrath Estate Hotel, there is a fantastic assortment of choices when it comes to sating those culinary cravings. Their fabulous La Perla Restaurant, is simply a delight to dine in, featuring a vast picture window that runs the length of the room.

The City of Kilkenny has been pulling in crowds and crowds of tourists for as long as I can remember. Its fantastic 12th Century castle has been drawing spectators and history buffs to its doors from far and wide.

We have tended down the years to associate self-service cafes as being the dining element in Department Stores. Indeed, when my boys were young, the self-service restaurant in the then Switzer’s was the cause of great excitement.

It's that time of year again when Sunday Independent restaurant critic, Lucinda O'Sullivan, takes a look back at the good and not-so-good dining experiences of her culinary year. The award goes to . . .

The greatest psychological uplift for Dun Laoghaire in recent times is not the monstrous building - and equally monstrous waste of money - that is the new dlr LexIcon library on the seafront, but rather the opening of Fallon & Byrne's new restaurant, caf

In 1965, the American novelist Arthur Hailey wrote a blockbuster called Hotel, which went on to be a movie and subsequently a TV series. With a changing colourful 'cast' coming through their doors every day, hotels can provide the ultimate backdrop..

From the moment we crossed the threshold, we loved what Balfes had to offer. It had a natural, uncontrived air, and while it's reminiscent of Paris or Madrid, its retro, urban, white-tiled decor- brown leather banquettes and marble-top tables - captured

Every year, I resolve to have my Christmas shopping done by December 1, but every year I fail. Maybe it's just as well, because, had I done it earlier, I would have missed out on the amazing atmosphere that is out there on the streets of Dublin right now

Loam is the new, long-awaited restaurant by Enda McEvoy. Why long-awaited? McEvoy is a Cavan-born chef who has been cooking in Galway for some time, both in the former Sheridan's on the Dock, and Aniar when it was awarded its first Michelin Star in 2013.

In the dark days of November 2011, when Vivienne Johnston and Janine Breslin took the big step of opening their Mellow Fig cafe on George's Avenue in Blackrock, Co Dublin, everyone told them they were very brave. They are now celebrating their third birt

Newgrange is probably one of the busiest tourist stops in Ireland being a must see for most tourists as well as a popular excursion for Irish families and schools. Being over 5,000 years old, it pre-dates Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

Street food is hot, hot, hot right now and it's popping up in various spots all over the capital, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, as she visits three new eateries serving tasty Indian, Mexican and barbecued treats.

There is a lift, there's no doubt. You can smell it in the air, you can see it in the cars on the road - white is the new colour, by the way - and you can see people walking around with shopping bags once again. Confidence inspires confidence, and now

The 1970s sprang to mind when we first saw the in-your-face purple and lime colour scheme adorning the new Table 6 Restaurant in a first-floor premises in the centre of Templeogue village. Procul Harum's A Whiter Shade of Pale it was not! This premises u

We often forget that Dublin is not just one big splodge, it is made up of a series of wonderful old villages, each of which has a history and community of its own. Indeed, it's not all that long ago that Ballymun and Tallaght were farming areas and...

Mamma Mia is a small, very authentic, Italian cafe-cum-trattoria-and-pizzeria on a side road off Bray's Main Street. Primarily residential, it is not a street you'd necessarily think of wandering down if you were looking for a bite to eat.

Standing in the Salon des Vins of the French supermarkets, Geant and Leclerc,in the town of Morlaix in Brittany, just 20 miles south of the port of Roscoff, it was clear that 'le booze cruise' certainly has won a place in the hearts of Irish wine fancier

I was asked by a lady in Co Waterford to recommend a Dublin restaurant for "a special occasion, which she didn't want to go wrong". As you can imagine, recommending a restaurant for a special occasion is a poisoned chalice, so it is something I never do..

Fancy chowing down on chicken feet, jellyfish head, frogs' legs, razor clams, shredded tripe, whelks, or a Chinese breakfast buffet for €6? These are just some of the delights that are available in the array of eateries in Dublin's Chinatown area....

This is my favourite time of year. The weather is still mellow and we have a great series of food festivals around the country up to the end of October. In fact, you could roll along gently for the next few weeks visiting different parts of the country..

Mare e Monti is a new 'Italian Surf & Turf restaurant' located on the first floor of a prime corner in my local village of Monkstown, Co Dublin. We are blessed to have a variety of restaurants in the village, as restaurateurs have snapped up any vacant...

With most restaurants going down the more casual route, we were a tad surprised to find the new Finns' Table in Kinsale bucking the trend with white linen napery, fine china, classical music and the other trimmings and frippery of the more delicate...

I am always impressed by the innovative people I meet at the various markets around the country. Not only do I admire their courage but also their food products, which never cease to amaze. It was wonderful then to see how well so many of them...

TJ O'Connor is one of those great people involved with the training of young people going into the hospitality industry. He is Head of Section, Hotel, Culinary and Tourism Department at the Institute of Technology in Tralee, Co. Kerry. He has just launche

Kilkenny has been hitting the news on the culinary scene in a big way in recent times, with the awarding of two Michelin stars in the county, one to the Lady Helen Restaurant at Mount Juliet in Thomastown, and one to Campagne in Kilkenny city. There is al

The Woollen Mills was where your granny, for more years than Harry Moore might have cared to remember, went to buy knicker-elastic, tweeds and buttons and bows. It was in business for over a century before closing its doors in recent years - James Joyce..

So, I come to Abraham Phelan, who has been doing Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food here for many years in his very popular Silk Road Cafe, located in the Chester Beatty Library in the grounds of Dublin Castle...

On a recent trip to Co. Sligo, we found ourselves in the restaurant at Waterfront House in Enniscrone and we couldn’t have been happier that we did. Enniscrone of course is a stunning location in itself, a total Mecca for surfers...

Well now it's official - we have great taste! Irish food producers have had tremendous success at this year's Great Taste Awards, run by the Guild of Fine Foods in the UK. What is so exciting and satisfying about all of this is that it endorses Ireland's

On a recent visit to Donegal, I discovered La Bella Donna, an Italian restaurant on Bridge Street in Donegal Town. The restaurant itself is beautifully decorated with classical Roman look making you feel as though the Colosseum could be just outside...

Last week saw the commemorations of the 100th anniversary of World War I, which spanned four years from August 3, 1914 until November 11, 1918. Very many Irishmen and women fought in the Great War and it is only now that they are being properly honoured

Russborough House, in Blessington, Co. Wicklow, is one of the finest stately homes in Ireland. A wealthy Dublin brewer named Joseph Leeson, who later became the first Earl of Milltown, built it in the 1740’s...

A decade or so ago a young lady from Cork sent me a recipe for chicken liver pate, which she was selling in Midleton Farmer’s Market. Since then she has moved rapidly up becoming one of our foodie stars. I speak of course of Clodagh McKenna.

I am taking a look at places to eat in holiday spots. After all, eating out is very much part of any holiday experience. Starting in east Cork, you are spoiled for choice. In Ballycotton, Pier 26 eatery at the Inn by the Harbour...

August is a wicked month, they say, when the cities of the world empty out on to the beaches - be it Antibes or Alghero, Baltimore or Roundstone. If you haven't planned your break, you need to get dialling fairly smartly because the holiday season...

Looking out through Venetian blinds at the mighty illuminated portico of Dublin’s magnificent City Hall on a balmy evening was a mood raiser and uplifting experience in itself. We were in the new Fiorentina restaurant.

Wooden, double-bench-style picnic tables of the 'throw your leg over' variety, complete with booze-company-endorsed umbrellas, didn't create ?a great first impression as we walked down the boardwalk to the new Mourne Seafood Bar....

I spoke recently to two men, both involved for many years solely in the world of women's fashion and accessories, who by adding 'something for the boys' to their repertoires, have found that it has greatly enhanced their businesses.

The four star Castletroy Park Hotel in Limerick is home to a most attractive restaurant, McLaughlin’s, which has a bright elegant atmosphere with lots of light enhanced by cream colours and elegant decorative touches.

The first branch of McGettigan’s opened its doors way back in 1964 with McGettigan’s Pub on Queens Street in Dublin and their brand has certainly come a long way since then. Today they boast a successful chain of modern Irish restaurants.

Driving from East Cork to Kinsale, which we do fairly frequently, I have had to restrain myself on many occasions from jumping out of the car, in the line of traffic through Carrigaline, to join the queue of eager customers hovering around a barbecue outs

Some years ago, Gerard Maguire visited Martel, a small town in the south-west of France and, while sitting with his wife, having a glass of the local Bergerac wine with a salad of duck confit, he was struck by the perfection of this simple repast.

Tucked away in a totally secluded alcove, one could be forgiven for thinking that it was gone midnight, rather than a little after midday.
The basement of 21 Kildare Street has had more column inches written about it over the past number of years than a

Looking recently at the movie The Women, a 2008 remake of the acerbic and amusing 1939 movie, based on a play by Clare Boothe Luce on the lives, loves and dramas of a group of Manhattan wealthy socialite friends, all I could think was plus ca change.

Street food is the thing people talk about when they return from the Far East. Those morsels of spicy deliciousness cooked and sold from stalls in markets and on the streets for no more than a few cents. Foodies waffle too about street food in Ireland,

There is something very enticing, honest and welcoming about the family run An Bhialann restaurant located on the Sandford Road end of Ranelagh’s main drag. In what has become virtually a restaurant village over run with tapas and tasting plates,fast food

Living beside the port of Dun Laoghaire, my ears always prick up when I hear the distinctive beat of helicopter blades swirling around the area. It very often means that someone is in trouble and the helicopter is trying to spot them in conjunction with

I could probably sit down every second week and write about an eatery that has "just opened" in Ranelagh. This suburban village, for many years best known for being a Dublin flatland, with launderettes, cheap takeaways, and cafes, morphed into a hot resid

If your looking for a restaurant with great food and really great atmosphere then look no further than Barracuda. Located on Bray’s magnificent and ever popular Victorian seafront and with floor to ceiling windows.

Rene Redzepi recently saw his Noma restaurant in Copenhagen restored to the position of No 1 in the ranks of the World's 50 Best Restaurants, having been knocked off the pillar by Spain's El Celler de Can Roca last year. Now back in the top spot for 2014

Ronan Ryan is one of the best-known names in the restaurant industry in Ireland and his forte is modern Italian food, which he is serving up at his new Pizza e Porchetta eatery in spectacular style. P & P is a happening place.

The cosmetic-surgery TV programme, 10 Years Younger, springs to mind when I think of the last 10 years of dining in Ireland. Since 2004, the restaurant industry has been nipped and tucked, weeded and plucked, resulting in a much tighter and keener ....

WHEN Mary Kay Solomon came to Ireland 11 years ago from the US to work in the computer industry, I doubt she thought she would now be married to an Irishman and living in Killeagh in east Cork, or that she would totally change her career from computers t

THE ‘management meeting of one’ is the hardest meeting there is to have,” says Paul Williams of the uber cool Canteen eatery in Limerick. “Just staring back at yourself in the mirror. There's no one else to point the finger at. It's you, and you alone..

There's a fine line between being naturally cool and overly contrived. Likewise, there's a fine line between shabby chic and just plain shabby. It felt like the latter when we arrived for lunch at the Deep South Cafe Bar in Cork.

Street food is the thing people talk about when they return from the Far East. Those morsels of deliciousness cooked and sold, for no more than a few cents, from stalls in the markets and on the streets

Kirsti O'Kelly's Silver Darlings are inspired by Kirsti's native Finland, where herrings are an everyday staple. We have wonderful herrings in our Irish waters but a lot of them are exported to Scandinavia, Europe, Japan and the Middle East and the Scandi

People sometimes say to me, "How do you pick a restaurant to review?" The answer is simple. In a review, people want to know about new restaurants, and new eateries are opening apace – especially in Dublin.

SINCE time immemorial, the movement of dance has fascinated, enthralled and even frightened at times. Around the world, there are courtship dances, rain dances, sword dances and war dances, not to mention the Maori Haka. Just as Spain enthralled...

The new Terenure Village Market kicked off last Sunday, outside Gerry Caffrey Motors on Terenure Road North. The market committee is made up of a small number of locals who volunteered their time to set up this market "to try revive

Brookwood’ is a new eatery on busy buzzy Lower Baggot Street.I can’t say I quite get the significance of the slightly rural folksy name in the center of the city, particularly as it is a sleek steak and seafood house, rather than of the ‘fumble and forage

Having now lived for many years in Monkstown, County Dublin, I remember when number 8A Monkstown Crescent was Coopers – which was one of a chain of popular bistro/brasserie-style restaurants around the capital.

FOR the next couple of weeks it is all about fluffy yellow chicks, Easter bunnies and lots of chocolate. Hotels around the country are getting ready to welcome guests over the Easter holidays with various packages.....

It was a lovely, bright, Sunday morning. Spring was in the air, the daffodils were peeking through and the "urge was upon me" to point the car in some direction out of Dublin! I am notoriously last-minute – some might say impulsive, some might say advent

Set in a compact, three-storey Georgian house on Dawson Street, Peruke & Periwig is the latest offering from the people behind Wagamama, the Vintage Cocktail Club and the Liquor Rooms in Temple Bar. Tourists, trendies and young-bucks-about-town may

I guess you are skating on fairly thin ice when you set out to review a new food element in what has been your local pub for the last 30 years. You are damned if you do, and you are damned if you don't!

The city of Galway is famous as a hub for visitors of all kinds, with thousands flocking to the city of tribes every year. Whether they’ve come for a relaxing retail getaway, an oudoorsy adventure holiday or for one of the many popular festivals.

Known far and wide as the city of tribes, Galway City is the thriving hub for culture and tourism in the west of Ireland. With beautiful beaches along its coasts and a buzzing social atmosphere both day and night, the city is a pleasure to explore.

Oh dear! I've had a couple of iffy experiences with "take it or leave it" service of late. I hope we're not heading for the situation of restaurants losing the plot again. Restaurants are opening all over Dublin, but, in this era of tight belts, they need

ANGELA Merkel was entertained there last week, as was Queen Elizabeth during her state visit in 2011. I'm talking about the CCD – Convention Centre Dublin – the dramatic, tilted glass tower on the northside of the Liffey docklands that gives the leaning

With Whitefriar Street Church being its best known landmark, I suppose I might be forgiven for saying that when Darwin’s first opened in Aungier Street some years ago it had always been more “mantilla” land than “Manolo” land.

The historic village of Slane springs to the fore when it comes to Rock Festivals in Ireland. Over the years Slane Castle has seen thousands of people enjoy the music of Thin Lizzy, Bruce Springsteen, Guns ‘N Roses, David Bowie, Queen, U2, Madonna, etc

In a city that is awash with – nay, expects – value menus and early birds, the first thing that struck us in the new steak and seafood restaurant, An Bhialann, on a bleak Thursday evening in January, was that there were no such offerings.

When I was a child I spent my summer holidays with my aunt and uncle on the farm in Tullow, Co. Carlow. I was regularly packed off on the bus which jogged along, making a ‘comfort’ stop in Blessington, before heading on for Baltinglass and Tullow.

Just off Grafton Street lies one of Dublin’s most popular restaurants, so popular in fact that it has been running since 1985. The secret to its continued success is that on top of serving really delicious Italian food, there is always a buzz.

Right in the heart of Dublin’s City Centre, opposite Connolly Station, close to the Liffey and convenient for the O2, you will find McGettigans Cookhouse and Bar, which I have to say is one of the most inviting and atmospheric venues I’ve visited.

There is no doubt but the colour, vibrancy, drama and romance of Spain has held a huge attraction for the intellectuals and artistic of this world from the great American writer Ernest Hemingway to movie star Rita Hayworth.

IF someone asked you where was the No 1 Best Bargain Hotel in the World, your head would probably whirl around images of the blue oceans of the Seychelles, a chalet in the Swiss Alps, or a colourful riad in Morocco.

'You were always on my mind, you were always on my mind," crooned Elvis Presley, followed in rapid succession by Diana Ross rolling up with Ain't No Mountain High Enough. "Well, the music's a winner anyway. Young rockers and old rockers are going to love

We all love a good steak and, when I say a good steak, I mean a good steak. We want it juicy and tender, cooked the way we like it, with all the trimmings – our favourite sauces, fries, onions, mushrooms – the works.

Graham and Rosie Campbell’s Hen House restaurant, overlooking Dun Laoghaire’s seafront, has become one of the most popular restaurants in the area and continues to draw customers who love to chow down all American style in a relaxed comfortable atmosphere

'A DOG is for life, not just for Christmas" was the slogan created way back in 1978 by Clarissa Baldwin of the Dogs Trust in the UK.It is a slogan that is every bit as relevant today as it was back then. The idea was to discourage people

I'd never before sat in a Chinese restaurant in Ireland and been the only European in the place. And it wasn't a simple, tucked-away venue in some backstreet of what is, euphemistically, called our Chinese quarter -- around Parnell Street and Capel Stree

ONE of these fine days, when the last of the tinsel has been packed away, very many of us are going to try and put our New Year's resolution into operation and, for very many of us, that resolution is to lose weight.

Restaurants seem to gather in clusters. Once one paves the way successfully, others follow hot on its tail -- the Haddington Road area, Upper Leeson Street and Ranelagh are all prime examples.Now the hot-to-trot Dublin city-centre place is Wexford Street

THIS year it has been wonderful to see a huge number of new restaurant openings -- both big and small. Also worth noting, as I looked back over this year, the standard and pride in food overall in restaurants and hotels has improved more this year than...

As an inveterate shopper who drags the better half around every store and retail outlet in the country, I am always looking for something delicious to revive us both after our efforts. What a joy it was to happen upon Bakestone at Ballyseedy Home & Garden

THE restaurant industry is predominantly run by men. It's all about this, that and the other celebrity chef, shouty chef, pouty chef and idiot macho chef, some gazing from professionally posed photos looking as if they had discovered the atom rather than

Believe it or not, one of the hazards of being a food critic is that every time you sit down to review a restaurant you have to ‘go the distance’ with three courses, three tapas plates or whatever, otherwise you disappoint someone.

It’s always great to see new restaurants and eateries opening. I recently visited two new gastropubs, which have more than one thing in common. Both hostelries have been opened by Irish guys who have lived and worked for a considerable length of time in

AS YOU prepare to douse the pudding with brandy and set it alight on Christmas Day, did you know that the plum pudding goes back to Roman times? It began as a pottage of meat and vegetables prepared in a cauldron to which dried fruits, sugar and spices...

We spend a lot of time on the road travelling around the country and consequently always on the lookout for somewhere to stop and have a bite to eat. This was how we discovered the atmospheric Monastery Inn, a thriving local pub and restaurant...

Situated on the Lower Kilmacud Road, opposite the Stillorgan Shopping Centre in Dublin, you will find Aprile Restaurant, a wonderful asset to the Stillorgan restaurant community. Beautifully decorated with a cool contemporary look, Aprile’s has a

The City of the Tribes is always an exciting place to visit with events and festivals happening it seems almost all year round. There is a tangible buzz and a vibe and, over the past couple of years, it has also become a foodie destination with the

Peter Clifford is a young chef with the Twitter handle of @pistolpete1991who has used this medium to raise his profile very successfully. He has now taken up the reins at the new Pepper Brasserie & Grill, at the Bram Stoker Hotel in Clontarf....

CHRISTMAS and New Year are times when a lot of people like to get away from it all. Some hotels are already booked out. I am told this is often by people who work right up to Christmas Eve, perhaps in the hospitality or retail business, or those whose

Etto, a really chic little wine bar, has joined the coterie of eateries and bars that make up Dublin’s Merrion Row, smack in the heart of what is known as the golden mile. It is located in long narrow premises that were for over twenty years an Indian re

The shops are decorated to the hilt, you can't escape the Christmas jingles – we are now seriously into Christmas shopping time! December 8 was traditionally the big day for people to come to Dublin for present buying.

There is a stark Nordic ‘Wallander’ feel to the new Forest Avenue restaurant, accented by a floor to ceiling glass frontage, offering vistas of acres of sky. A faux white stags head hangs on an urban grey wall, as a cute little ‘antlers’...

Twitter is a mighty marketing tool if used properly but, unfortunately, it does allow what were known in the old days as ‘poison pen’ writer’s free rein. However, it also facilitates people who have a common interest to find one another and I

TAKE four girls, take four ideas – and hey presto, you have four businesses. I recently met four such young women whose ideas really took my fancy. Their products are all innovative, stylish, and would make anyone happy on Christmas Day.

The opening of the eponymous Castlemartyr Resort in East Cork in 2007 was the talk du jour. The magnificent house, which had for many years been in the hands of a religious order, was exquisitely restored and refurbished, whilst the grounds and gardens

When Lucinda O'Sullivan was given a cache of letters, sent by her uncle Billy Morris from Kilkenny while he served with the British army in World War One, it set her off on a wonderful, and deeply moving journey of discovery that ended with Billy's final

Don't miss out on Seven Socials fab 10 Course Tasting Menu next Sunday 17th November.The night is putting the spotlight on genuine Irish cuisine, our food history and traditions both current and ancient.

Fiv years ago coincidentally the 90th Anniversary of the Armistice, I wrote here in Life magazine the story of my uncle, Billy Morris, a young man from Kilkenny who like many other young Irish men of his generation had felt honour bound to go off to war

‘House’ is not the American medical TV series, nor is it a reality TV show but, I guess, you could say there will certainly be a lot of ‘people watching’ within its walls. Rather, ‘House’ is the sibling of 37 Dawson Street’, Dublin’s hot, hot, bar/eatery

OVER the bank holiday weekend, we were in Kilkenny for the seventh Savour Kilkenny food festival, which proved a tremendous success.
We stayed in the Pembroke Hotel and on Friday night we were guests of Savour Kilkenny at Zuni's Restaurant where, followi

The sometime enfant terrible of the kitchen, Marco Pierre White, breezed into town recently for the opening of his second restaurant in Dublin. Unlike many of the ventures by English celebrity chefs, MPW’s restaurant in Dawson Street, in partnership with

when it came to sewing, I didn't get off to a great start. I grew up looking at my mother's black and gold electric Singer sewing machine – it was a treasured piece of 'high tech' equipment and carried warnings to be extremely careful about threading bobb

Everybody it seems wants to be a restaurateur. However, I must confess the latest convert to the hot steamy cut throat world of the professional kitchen certainly surprised me. The ex deputy leader of Fianna Fail, Mary Hanafin, is one of ten people...

Everywhere I go in Ireland, I meet hoteliers who say that they've been having a great year. I have tremendous time for these people who, through good times and bad, have had to keep the best front out, maintain their premises and try to keep their staff

The staff & owners of Hayfield Manor hotel have been honoured with one of the most prestigious awards in the travel industry. The readers of Condé Nast Traveler magazine, a collection of some of the most discerning travellers across the globe, voted for

When a restaurant is hopping on a Monday night, I guess you can take it they are doing something right. So it was when we arrived sans reservation to Platform Pizza Bar on the seafront in Bray, Co. Wicklow. Aptly named as it backs onto Bray Dart Station

'THIS is Cavan' is the new branding for marketing all that Cavan has to offer. The county recently hosted 'A Taste of Cavan' where I met some enthusiastic food producers from Cavan and surrounding counties. The fact that Richard Corrigan....

Believe it or not, one of the hazards of being a food critic is that every time you sit down to review a restaurant you have to ‘go the distance’ with three courses, three tapas plates or whatever, otherwise you disappoint someone. When off duty....

FOR generations, the corner shop was very much part of the local community. It was where housewives bought their daily bread and milk, their bacon and newspapers, had a chat with the shopkeeper, perhaps ran a little monthly account or put it 'on tick'.

Sr Frango ‘Modern European Cuisine’ is the latest eatery to join the plethora of reasonably priced spots in the Camden and Wexford Street area of Dublin. Its rustic Tex Mex wood panelled shopfront didn’t initially strike us as the most appealing

FOR many years now, we have taken ourselves off to France for an autumnal break. It's a lovely time to travel, being still generally warm, and it is also a great opportunity to stock up the wine cellar for the long winter ahead.

MICHELIN Guide announced its much vaunted Michelin Stars 2014 last week with editor Rebecca Burr saying, "We have never produced a GB & Ireland guide that provides our readers with such diversity and variety.

It's very seldom that we slide gently into autumn, but this summer has been a real cracker, which has raised our spirits and given us all more positive thoughts. We have had a summer of food festivals countrywide and now, as we approach the season of mist

Tucked away in the corner of a little strip of shops in Donnybrook Village is The Greenery. With a candy stripe awning over a couple of outside café tables, the ambiance is light bright and relaxed with pretty young girls flitting around.

It’s funny how some new eateries manage to hit the ground running whilst others make excuses for their failings for weeks. Located in what was the former Espresso Bar on St. Mary’s Road in D4, facing the Dylan Hotel, the new Marcel’s Restaurant exudes

FOUR years ago this coming November, brother and sister team, Colm and Brid Carter took the risky step of launching Honest 2Goodness, an artisan food market, in a warehouse on Slaney Close in the Dublin Industrial Estate in Glasnevin. Since then, H2G has

La Dolce Vita is a popular Italian restaurant, which was previously in Sandyford Village and is now in a super new contemporary premise, complete with an outdoor terrace, in the Sandyford Industrial Estate.

Can you imagine how you would feel if you saw a picture of yourself, decapitated, blood dripping down, your hair being grasped by an angry looking man, whilst his companion, clutching the offending cleaver, stared angrily out of the photo? This is what I

“Breakfast like a King, lunch like a Lord, and dine like a pauper”, is an old adage. Perhaps it’s not a bad one for, having cast aside our Celtic Tiger ways and returned to many old traditions, we are realizing that perhaps Granny did really know best.

Lobsterfest, the annual shellfish shindig at Saba, is back from Monday 9th until Sunday 22nd September. Diners can enjoy exquisite lobster fresh from the waters of Inisboffin or freshly shucked Carlingford Lough oysters to sip, slurp and sup!

EGO – three little letters for a very powerful word that can destroy people and their families. Other ways we have of describing misplaced supersized ego is 'losing the plot', 'believing one's own publicity', 'carried away with themselves' or

Dermot and Noreen Fetton are two of the most experienced people operating within the hospitality business in Ireland today. Both spent many years working in 5 Star establishments; the legendary Dromoland Castle and the Castlemartyr Resort in East Cork.

It was a scorching Sunday morning as I decided to hit the road for somewhere, rather than the road to nowhere around the house! I am a last minute traveller defined by my family of men as bonkers for, on a previous impulsive Sunday a few years back,

Early Bird and Value Menus are the midweek mainstay of many restaurants, so it is in a restaurant’s own interests to make them as inviting as possible. We took in a few recently, during the lovely summer evenings.

FOOD tourism is a huge industry around the world and something that has been growing in Ireland in the past few years. There is no doubt but that when businesses in a region or town band together it proves to be to everyone's advantage.

Will it be third time lucky, we wondered, as we arrived at the new Copper Bar in Sandyford Industrial Estate. Certainly the signs looked good. The place was busy and had life about it, but this is a building with a story. The Sandyford Estate was....

A decade or so ago a young lady from Cork sent me a recipe for chicken liver pate which she was selling in Midleton Farmer’s Market. Since then she has moved rapidly up the foodie ladder so it was good to see that she has been true to her origins...

In the midst of all the doom and gloom there is a veritable boom in small-business enterprise. It's a 'we can do it' philosophy and, as small-time entrepreneurs soon find out there is absolutely nothing like working for yourself in business.

We all like to try the local restaurants when we are on holiday whether home or abroad. Maybe you go to the same part of Connemara or West Cork each year,visit old favourites and know them all by heart, but then again maybe you don’t,and places do change

Galway, the City of the Tribes, is always an exciting place to visit. Its ancient streets are vibrant and buzzy, but like all cities it's always good to know where you will find great food in a great ambiance.

WE CAN'T all make it to the world famous two-day Braderie de Lille on August 31 and September 1, or indeed the famous flea markets of Paris, but we do have our very own Dublin Flea Market, held on the last Sunday of every month at .....

Many years ago, when planning our first trip driving around the North of France, I found a book which followed the ‘B’ roads, leading us up highways and byways of delight, with recommendations for eateries and places to lay our heads. I am not going to

“What I loved about New York is that you have a guy that does the best chips, a guy that does the best sushi, a guy that does the best baguettes, ….the best coffee, and they can all trade independently whereas here there is a rush to satisfy everybody....

Arguably one of Dublin’s most talked about restaurants, Town Bar & Grill, was re-launched recently as a “high end casual restaurant” with the owner, Gillian Ronan, dropping the ‘Bar & Grill’ moniker for ‘Town Kildare Street’, and wheeling in a brace

'THE windows have been painted for the first time in 27 years and new boilers installed," said Tony Daly, managing director of the consortium of investors who bought Parknasilla Resort & Spa in Sneem, Co Kerry, at the start of this year.

DUBLINERS Brian Nolan and Rachel Flynn will become Mr and Mrs Nolan this coming October, but, notwithstanding the excitement of wedding plans, they have just established a new food business, Nobo, which is ice-cream with a difference.

All great chefs and foodies say they learned to cook at their mother's knee and, from my own experience, it is a skill you never forget. Nowadays not everyone has as much time to spend cooking with their kids as they might like and, as we all know,

The Lodge at Doonbeg is delighted to announce that Heiko Riebant has been appointed Executive Head Chef. He joins Doonbeg from The Sheen Falls Lodge Hotel in Kenmare, Co. Kerry where he has been Executive Chef since 2009.

Clonakilty in West Cork is definitely worth exploring. With its colourfully painted houses and Georgian Squares, it is lovely little town to stroll through, bursting with blooming flower baskets in the spring and summer.

Rule No. 1 in any business is not to leave potential customers hanging on a phone for 15 minutes before they hang up, as happened when I called up to book at table at Las Tapas de Lola. It is enough to make you tear your hair out, as is being told that,

WHEN visiting the splendid Castlemartyr Resort in East Cork three or four years ago, I met the delightful Dermot and Noreen Fetton. At the time they were both on the managerial team of The Dromoland Collection, which had taken over the management of...

The City of the Tribes has been raising its head in the foodie arena in the past couple of years with some really good eateries and one of those is undoubtedly Brasserie on the Corner. There is a lovely atmosphere here, plenty of buzz, excellent service,

The first question asked of a restaurant critic is “what is your favourite restaurant”. For me a good restaurant is not always about twiddly bits of artwork on a plate, it can be good produce simply cooked, wonderful aromatic spices from Asia....

The village of Moycullen is on the main road between Galway and Oughterard both of which you pass through en route to Clifden. Nowdays Moycullen has become a really happening village raising it’s profile both in relation to food and retail.

"We met in a smoothie bar in Gran Canaria," explained Darragh. "I did my Leaving Cert in 1998 and James was going into fifth year. Twenty-seven students went from Blackrock College, where I was, and from St Mary's, where James was a student. We all got.

The Restaurants Association of Ireland and Sunday Life Magazine 2013 Irish Restaurant Awards are taking place in the Burlington Hotel, Dublin, on June 10, Eight establishments have been shortlisted for Best Gastropub in Dublin.....

The Sixties was the decade that liberated a generation and changed the world in so many ways. The Russians sent Yuri Gagarin into outer space in 1961, whilst Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon in 1969. The Beatles were

I lusted long and hard for a couple of years over a designer dining table with a silver Indian ‘white metal’ top. “They are very cool - I saw a similar one in Jamie’s in Covent Garden,” I pleaded with Himself - who remained unmoved by the t

The Winding Stair is one of the most respected and popular restaurants in Dublin. Over the past number of years Elaine Murphy’s fantastic eatery has charmed and enchanted not only thousands of locals but also thousands of visitors to the City

LIFE is what you make it. And, one way or another, you can have a brilliant summer in Ireland by following the festival trail – and many do. I am not just talking of food festivals, but also literature, music, comedy, the lot.

From Peru to Dubai, Brazil to Shanghai, an army of worldwide chefs gleamed and preened as they rubbed shoulders in London's prestigious Guildhall for the announcement of the San Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants 2013.

“I’m having difficulty choosing a starter”, said friend Rachel. “They are all ‘wobblies’ or ‘cheesy’”. We were in The Brasserie of the new Marker Hotel, on Grand Canal Square in Dublin’s Docklands. The ground floor is open plan - light....

Devotees of the popular urban Lennox Café Bistro will be happy to know that the owners have spread their wings and opened The Table Restaurant & Wine Bar in the nearby former Nonna Valentina premises, overlooking the Grand Canal at Portobello.

The nation is going VINTAGE mad with HUNDREDS of tractor nuts from all over Ireland and abroad descending on the quaint village of Borris in Co. Carlow on May 11th and 12th for the 10th annual Tractor Nuts Festival.

As we all know, retail and other small businesses have been decimated over the past few years through high rents and the drop in spend. In February 2011, Kate Browne of BeU Beauty Clinic in the Dublin suburb of Kimmage was also battling hard to keep her

Many years ago I remember a popular Chinese Takeaway to which everyone flocked after the rugby hops. We downed large quantities of mustard yellow Chinese curries with chunks of woolly chicken and chewy onion in the name of exotic food. Chinese restaura

‘Hello’ said the tall man, dressed in a casual outdoor jacket and scarf, resting his elbow on the top of our booth as he looked down on us. ‘Hello’, we replied, a tad bemused as we had never seen him before. There was that awkward pause before he said “

'I did corporate law in Galway before becoming a baker. It's a natural progression really," said Patrick Ryan with a laugh. Patrick, 27, set up the Firehouse, a bakery and bread school on Heir Island, west Cork, last year, and is about to embark on a new

I recently had one of the best meals of the year so far – not as one might expect in a posh restaurant, but at a pop-up event of graduating students at the Dublin Cookery School in Blackrock, Co Dublin.

When chefs have reached a certain level of skill and proficiency you know, provided they are on the bridge during your visit, that you are unlikely to receive a less than perfect plate. So it was on our recent trip to VM restaurant in Longford where Chef

AS WE wake up this Easter Sunday morning, the hills may not be alive with the sound of music, but at Kylemore Abbey in Letterfrack, Co Galway, the kitchens are alive with the sound of industry – and the aroma of chocolate.

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again…”were the opening lines of Daphne du Maurier’s famous novel ‘Rebecca’ a tale of love, deceit, and murder, and an all destroying fire in the mythical house Manderley on the Cornish shoreline. Many great novel

Anar is a new Persian Restaurant and Wine Bar in the heart of Terenure. ‘Persia’ - isn’t that Iran nowadays - I can hear you say! Yes, indeed it is, but doesn’t Persia sound so much more romantic. It brings back memories of the last Shah, Mohamed Reza

We’d had a great cocktail each in the new Quay 14 Bar, been looked after by amazing bar staff, and were now seated in the Morrison Grill, on a low backed banquette in a Siberian draft. As the evening progressed, the tempo music was raised, and looking ou

'Idedicated my new book, Atul's Curries of the World, to my mum and I was very emotional about the first copy I got so I sent it to her immediately. Two days later I thought I would check that she had received it, so I called her up. Before I could ask

GOREY has always been a great business town but did you know that it has now become a serious fashionista destination? Esmonde Street has become a boulevard of boutiques and cafes, acquiring the tag of G4 and attracting the ladies in their droves.
Also

Restaurants tend to cluster in groups, a good thing as a choice of eateries draws more people to an area. The latest little cluster of eateries is between Benburb Street and the Quays. First in here was Seven Social, a really good spot for delicious and

Due to the long French occupation of Indochina, Paris was always the best European city in which to experience good Vietnamese food from Vietnamese people who had settled there. I was rather excited then at the idea of a dedicated Vietnamese Restaurant

Joanna Lumley attracted a lot of publicity for the State of Nepal in recent times when she took up the cause of the legendary Ghurkas, a fiercesome and brave military unit in the British Army who were being denied the right to live in the U.K. despite..

Joanna Lumley attracted a lot of publicity for the State of Nepal in recent times when she took up the cause of the legendary Ghurkas, a fiercesome and brave military unit in the British Army who were being denied the right to live in the U.K.

The entire first floor of the house has been given over to their uber smart Wilde's at the Lodge restaurant, overlooking Lisloughrey Quay, and a spectacular view of Lough Corrib. Here you can enjoy the best of Contemporary Country House Cook

The Arbutus Hotel Killarney is not just any hotel; it is a hotel with a history, a hotel with style, a hotel where you will be looked after with extraordinary hospitality and attention by the Buckley family.

Located in the centre of Wicklow Town, Donelli’s Café | Restaurant has been attracting a loyal and regular clientele for the last ten years, who come not only for the cracking food but also for the atmosphere and buzz.

Renvyle House Hotel reopens this week for a new season that will mark the historic property’s 130 years as a hotel. Renvyle, which has been the meeting place of poets, politicians and influencers for many....

Chapter One paved the way for a high end restaurant on Parnell Square but whilst they now have a Michelin Star, and are probably the most popular and desired restaurant in the country, Ross Lewis and Martin Corbett, are the first to say that having opened

The Westbury Hotel is at the very heart of Dublin Society. It’s not just its stupendous location off Grafton Street, the heart and soul of Dublin’s fashion and dining world, but it’s accessibility. And, again, by accessibility I do not mean just its

There is a sweet little Auberge de Terroir in Normandy with a half dozen bedrooms, which we discovered a few years ago, where Monsieur is a superb chef and Madame is front of house. Arriving in to the dining room one evening, we noticed a couple already..

There was a really nice relaxed urban cool feel on our visit to Peperina Garden Bistro, on Dunville Avenue, in Ranelagh. Set amidst a group of shops, which comprise an upmarket niche shopping area for the redbrick D6 brigade, the premises formerly house

The Amber Springs Hotel in Gorey is the sister hotel to the nearby Ashdown Park. Both are owned and operated by the Redmond family, whos ethos in supporting local, artisan and Irish food is to be commended.

Hotel Doolin’s innovative eco friendly and green approach to everything they do is nowhere more to the fore than in their food. Their philosophy here is their passion for delivering original wholesome and inventive food.

Tabletalk
“What’s the difference between Syrian and Lebanese food”? I asked the agreeable chap, who was wearing a fez and colourful national dress, at the new Damascus Gate restaurant on Upper Camden Street. “Nothing really,” he replied, “but like

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like Italian food. It is one of the most popular cuisines in the world. However, here in Ireland for many many years, our Italian dining experiences were bastardised Italian restaurants, serving mainly sloshy

“How can you buy Killarney” went the old song made famous by Bing Crosby. Well you can’t of course but, if you know the right places to stay, you can buy into the best of the Killarney experience for the time you are there.

There isn’t a better known or loved Irish song than ‘The Fields of Athenry’ - just ask any rugby fan. The orgins of this inspirational piece of music are rooted firmly in the beautiful and historical town for which it is named.

When Billy Whitty and Joanne Harding got up on the morning of Friday, April 13, 2012, to start work at their Aldridge Lodge Restaurant and Guesthouse at Duncannon, Co Wexford, they had no idea that by that afternoon, they would be happy parents to a new b

Doolin is a very special place in the hearts of many. It’s spectacular rugged location on the northwest coast of Co. Clare, combined with its rich heritage and culture, draws people from all over the world to enjoy its natural beauty, hospitable people,

The Seafield Restaurant at the Seafield Hotel in Ballymoney, Co. Wexford, is a beautiful location with views of the golf course and courtyard but better still it also offers cracking innovative contemporary food that makes it a destination in itself.

“True to region, true to season” is the slogan of Orla and Tom Talbot at their eponymous Talbot Boutique Hotel in Belmullet. There are two dining options at the hotel, the chic Barony Restaurant, which offers contemporary cooking in style, or The Talbot

Once you swing left out of Gorey on the road to Ballymoney, it is not long before you realize you are in a different world. The windy roads abound with lush thick tropical greenery and it feels like you are in a very different place – away from it all –

'The abattoir is a small one and he had almost finished a consignment of pigs when we arrived. The smell was all embracing – it seemed to settle in a gelatinous layer on me. The screams of the pigs were blood curdling and I glanced at 'Sausage' who had sh

Last week we took a look at restaurant offers and value in Dublin. This week we are seeing what is available countrywide in our restaurants for January and February. In Co. Wicklow, at A. Caviston in Greystones, their new ‘fish deals’ concept has

There is nothing I like better than hitting the road and getting out of Dublin at weekends, consequently I am always looking for somewhere new and different. Our latest discovery is The Talbot Hotel at Belmullet, Co. Mayo.

Today, being Little Christmas, is the last day of the Festive Season, but January and February don’t have to be dreary for it is clear from the plethora of new eateries springing up that we do really want to go out to eat in an informal casual way. There

One of the best known restaurants in the South West is Richy’s Restaurant and RCafé. Since first opening his doors in 2002 Richy Virahsawmy has been tantalizing locals and visitors alike with his cracking eclectic food bearing the influences of the Mauri

Powerscourt Estate at Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow, has always held a special place in the hearts of Dubliners. A truly splendid estate with a magnificent Palladian Mansion with formal gardens and terraces reminiscent of Versailles, it was here in 1965 that..

There was excitement enough when the fabulous Ritz-Carlton Powerscourt Hotel opened its doors at Powerscourt Estate, Enniskerry, but there was a frisson of bliss when it was announced that the signature restaurant would be Gordon Ramsay at Powerscourt.

There’s a lot of talk about online shopping for gifts this Christmas but, frankly, nothing beats the feel of the ‘real thing’ in your hands, the buzz of choosing those gorgeous gifts, being able to touch or smell them, pondering on whether it should be th

Adding another vast hip new eatery to what has euphemistically been christened the Creative Quarter, the Bereen brothers have just opened the Damson Diner in premises where they previously ran the South William Urban Lounge. Marc and Conor Bereen also..

When I was a kid Swords was a small town where we would often go on the ‘Sunday Drive’ and you thought of it as being out in the country. The father would drive around taking in Ballyboughal, the Naul, all of those great places, and of course blackberry

'Large streams from little fountains flow, tall oaks from little acorns grow," is an old saying and so it is with the vanilla pod. I, however, speak not of a vanilla pod per se but The Vanilla Pod Eatery at The Park Retail Centre, Carrickmines, which is s

On its second night, Asador was already awash with bright young things hanging off the cocktail bar, as we rolled up to try it out. With Twitter and Facebook, the drums beat loudly nowadays revving up the hordes who descend like a swarm of mosquitos to p

I remember years ago finding great authentic Asian and South East Asian restaurants in Amsterdam and London that were simple in style and décor, but were relaxed and friendly, and where good food and fun were King.Diwali reminds me of these places...

I have a passion for Indian food, the spices, the aromas, and the colours, which are rarely seen to the same extent in any other cuisine. In fact, I sometimes wonder why I wasn’t born on the sub-Continent instead of freezing in this part of the Northern

I don’t know anybody who doesn’t love Italian food, not to mention the lighthearted fun atmosphere to be found in Italian restaurants. We have very fond memories of a little Italian restaurant in Soho that we used visit many years ago, and Sirocco’s..

Very few restaurants have the honour of ever being recognized as an institution in Dublin society, but Peploe’s on St. Stephen’s Green achieved that status the minute it opened its doors a decade or so ago. Barry Canny is a foodie himself, he understands

If you want to rub shoulders with the cool and happening people of Dublin, well 37 Dawson Street is where it is at. This is an amazing bar, which is better than any club and where the movers and shakers hang out.The décor is quite brilliant, it is like

I have very happy memories as a child of long summer days in Clontarf – cycling along the front by the sea from Hollybrook Road where my aunt lived, to the famous Clontarf Baths for a swim. It was absolutely magical so anytime I can get over to Clontarf

Mallow is a very pretty historic town on the River Blackwater about 20 miles or so north of Cork City. It is a town I have always liked – I always think of it as mellow Mallow with its lush surroundings – I also have to say the same of nearby Kanturk..

Kirby’s Korner is in Ballinhassig, not far from Kinsale, and on the main road to West Cork. It is a great pub, very much part of the local community, with always something happening by way of sporting occasions, off the cuff sing songs, weekly games of c

Gary Stafford and the staff at Lyon’s Café extend an open invitation to the launch of their cook book: Lyon’s Café, The Recipes. The launch will take place in Lyons café on Saturday December 1st at 3pm with mulled wine, seasonal nibbles and music by the..

The recessionary tightening of belts has brought about an extraordinary amount of innovation in the foodie world with new small food businesses, and value menus, particularly in Dublin. However it is important too that the spirit, creativity and ambition

The times we are in have brought about a burgeoning of smashing small and interesting restaurants around the country. People want to be able to eat out at reasonable prices, and have a nice bottle of wine with their friends without it breaking the bank.

When I was a girl, all you could get to eat in an Irish pub was the proverbial butt of many a joke – the ‘hang sangwich’ – with a slice of fluorescent orange cheese slapped in the middle if you wanted it toasted! I was always fascinated then by how good

No matter where we all go on holidays, be it in Ireland or Abroad, we are always hoping to find that ideal local pub or simple restaurant, that is friendly and welcoming, yet does cracking 5 Star seafood and steaks – oh yes and it has to.....

I have always been of the belief that good chefs are born not made!Of course they have to be trained but you do really know the difference between food that has been cooked by someone with a gift, and someone who is just doing a job.Two people can cook

Samphire Restaurant is in the most stunning location, right on the beach, and is the new restaurant of the Waterside House Hotel. Executive Head Chef Tom Walsh has created a whole new image and theme here delivering classical French cuisine with a Moder

When Thai food was first becoming popular in Ireland, a man wrote to me from London telling me that we would soon be over-run with airport hanger size restaurants doing bad Thai food. Happily that didn’t happen here....

There was almost an air of a Greek Taverna or Parisian Café about Vino’s in Greystones as we arrived in to meet four friends who live locally. The place was abuzz including a couple of big family groups celebrating birthdays, and the décor and ambiance g

One thing that always gets me off to a good start in a restaurant, apart at all from the food, is the welcome, and that you are always assured of at Mitchel House Restaurant. Michael O’Dwyer is a total professional and really knows what he is about when

As a part time resident of Kinsale for many many years I guess I can claim to know the restaurant scene there better than most.It is a place I have loved all my life and where my kids took their first steps. When the Lemonleaf Café first opened its doors

I was never quite sure how I feel about Japanese food. I love sushi and the lightness and crispness of Tempura but, after that, I sometimes flounder around wondering what to have. Wasabi, is a new Japanese eatery on Malahide’s Main Street, so off we se

When Lucinda O'Sullivan was given a cache of letters, sent by her uncle Billy Morris from Kilkenny while he served with the British army in World War One, it set her off on a wonderful, and deeply moving journey of discovery t

When the cream of Dublin’s restaurant scene is out in force to check out a new arrival, you know it is major opposition! Such was the turnout to Dylan McGrath’s new Fade Street Social eatery that it even included some of those who had challenged his

Vaughan’s Eagle House Pub has always been a landmark pub at the crossroads in the center of Terenure Village but in the last couple of years it has also become a landmark eatery - Vaughan's Eatery. It is a place that combines the wonderful old historic

Keith and Siobhan Brennan are really on the nose of how people like to dine out and enjoy themselves nowadays. They know what good food is and they have really put Brennan's Lane on the foodie map,as well as it being a great contemporary pub and nightclub

Long before the word Gastropub was ever dreamt up in the nether regions of London’s ECI at The Eagle on Farringdon Road, Ashtons in Dublin’s leafy Clonskeagh had a reputation for good food that would give anyone a run for their money..

Living in the Borough of Dun Laoghaire, I am but a veritable stone's throw from the famous Purty Kitchen. The Purty Kitchen has been around since 1728, not in its present form I hasten to add, but it is the oldest pub in the great seaport of Dun Laoghaire

The Step Inn in Stepaside has long been a destination for good food and drink. Built in the style of an old Coaching Inn, The Step Inn in the old days was outside the 3 mile city limits, and consequently known as a ‘bona fide’ pub, which meant it was no

Clonakilty is a fantastic town, full of colour and atmosphere, from its long narrow streets lined with interesting shops and houses all painted in different colours, to its interesting, elegant and historic Georgian squares. It is a very open and welcomi

PEOPLE all over the country have been coming up with wonderful ideas and new businesses over the past couple of years, but 36-year-old Karen Daly and her husband Frank entered a market that is normally reserved for the big boys -- the corporate food world

We were in the north of France recently where I was struck yet again at how seriously the Frnech take lunch. In fact, everything seems to stop for lunch at noon; shopkeepers drag in their displays and close up shop on the button whilst workers descend on

Some people just have the knack of getting things right and that can certainly be said of the team behind Eala Bhan. Anthony Gray and Cedric Roussilhe, along with Head Chef Julian Regneres, have long since put Tra Ban in Strandhill, Co. Sligo.....

With his new Dundrum Town Centre eatery, Jamie Oliver follows a list of U.K. based chefs into Dublin, most of whom hightailed it in jig time back to London. There is no point in pretending anymore that any of these guys are going to stir a pot in Dublin,

There was almost an air of a Greek Taverna or Parisian Café about Vino’s in Greystones as we arrived in to meet four friends who live locally. The place was abuzz including a couple of big family groups celebrating birthdays, and the décor...

With the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness upon us it is time to think like the farmers, harvesting and squirreling away goodies for the dark winter evenings, and the Christmas store cupboard. It is also Booze Cruise time, which, along with...

Enjoy A Journey Across India this October Bank Holiday Weekend!
As part of the Savour Kilkenny Food Festival, Royal Spice Indian restaurant will be treating its guests to an extensive five-course "Taste of India" dinner.........

October promises to be a month of gastro bliss for food and fun-lovers as Lucinda O'Sullivan serves up some highlights
THERE are now more food festivals in Ireland than ever before -- from Westport to Donegal, Macroom (which is happening today), to Dun

There is nothing like a discount to disarm and sweeten the punters when you open a new restaurant. This was the tactic taken by the new De Ville’s Restaurant in Dalkey. A good idea perhaps for other restaurateurs who try out their new restaurants...

What you get at Paolo Sabatini and Fabiano Mulas’ Basilico Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria is the best of Italian and Irish food delivered with panache and style in their cool restaurant in the old stone building that is also the 16 bedroomed Coach House...

ONE of Ireland's most successful and longstanding restaurateurs never seeks the limelight for himself. While John O'Sullivan is very well known and respected in the hospitality industry, it is the name of the restaurant that he co-founded in 1992 -- Roly'

I’m on about service again this week. Maybe I am just having a bad run of it but staff and restaurateurs should remember that a restaurant only gets one chance to make a first impression. Is there anything worse than feeling you are getting the cursor

“Am I in an Italian, Moroccan, Thai or a Steakhouse & Grill”, I asked of the waitress in N Square, a new restaurant under a block of apartments, by the River Lee, just over the bridge from Cork Opera House. Keeping things simple here was certainly not..

From the fictional roguish Lovejoy of the 80’s, to the Antique Roadshow and mahogany tanned ‘Duke’ David Dickinson’s ‘Real Deal’ and Bargain Hunt of today, our TV screens have been lit up with antique finds, from Great Granny’s chest in

I decided on one of those few recent fine days to take a ‘Thelma and Louise’ type spin up the coast to the Eastern Seaboard Restaurant at Drogheda with friend Rena. It seemed the perfect opportunity for a late lunch, or an early evening supper....

It’s funny how some niche areas seem to mushroom organically creating a cult zone for dining with a vibe. Generally it revolves around a good pub where ‘the crowd’ likes to hang before moving on to eat.Ranelagh and Cabinteely villages spring to mind,

Restaurants are opening apace in Dublin. The bigger enterprises tend to be by long term restaurateurs who, although they may have had a couple of bumpy rides, get back in the saddle and keep going. The latter, I guess, could...

Ranelagh may well be over-run with eateries of varying standards, but the addition of La Reserve Brasserie in the center of the village raises the bar. I had noticed this little spot, which had “Soft Opening this week” chalked’ on its window and....

There’s a very thin line in this country between ‘Al Fresco’ dining and what is basically the strung together Smoking Area. Scant effort goes into providing real designated outdoor dining options in comparison to the Continent, and I refer particularly t

Charles de Gaulle famously asked how anyone could govern a nation that had 246 different kinds of cheese. That was many years ago, when Ireland knew only processed cheese of the luminous variety, and perhaps a simple cheddar. I know, I know, someone ....

There are some restaurants and chefs that feature again and again at the top of list when it comes to Restaurant Awards and there is sound reason – simply because they are consistently good. Ananda in Dundrum Town Centre is one of them and received the

Chefs are a mercurial bunch. Some are dour, some are gregarious, some are vain, some are prima donnas, some are bitchy, some are namby pambies, some are showmen, some are shit stirrers, some are delightful, but, provided it is on their own terms, all of..

I love sitting in places like Cancale and Saint Malo on covered decks, which abound all over the place and can’t be that expensive to construct. I was reflecting on this whilst breakfasting one Sunday morning recently on the fantastic enormous terrace...

There is an almost insatiable appetite for al fresco dining on the Capital’s streets, not dispelled by the thoughts of either, bad weather, quaffing back exhaust fumes, or indeed being hassled with fellas rattling begging bowls! So, here are a few idea

One of the great things about cities like Paris, Rome and Madrid, has always been that, once you stepped out of your hotel and went off down some side street, you would stumble on some little gem of a Bistro where you wined and dined at inordinately.....

A chance encounter led to a change of scenery for artist Deborah Joyce, writes Lucinda O'Sullivan
WHEN you take your dog for a walk, you don't think that it will lead to a total career change, let alone moving to another country.
Such was the case

So here we are, at the height of the holiday season, maybe travelling to, or already arrived at, that west Cork rental, or Sligo yurt. You are defo out of the home-comfort zone, and looking for a decent reliable bit of nosh. Here are a few ideas.

The ‘Mission’, more dedicated than Tom Cruise, and sometimes equally ‘Impossible’, of many city folk when on the family holiday, is to find that great mythical ‘seafood shack’ by the coast , just waiting to ply you with crab claws the size of your fist..

Konkan Indian Restaurant started out a few years ago in the somewhat simple surroundings of Dublin’s Upper Clanbrassil Street but it wasn’t long before fans of Indian food discovered it and the really rather good authentic traditional and regional Indian

Roll up, Roll up, Ireland has become a Nation of Festivals! Festivals are great for local areas, they not only bring a great verve and excitement, bonding and getting together of local communities, but they bring people in to spend money and keep..

Twitter followers will know that I spend a lot of down time in Indian restaurants loving the aromatic spices, herbs,and their wonderful way with vegetables.In fact, I guess I am almost the perfect candidate to have joined the group who took off to India

I love Gastropubs of all sorts; provided that is that they live up to the ideal of the Gastropub, which is cracking restaurant style food in informal surroundings. The Waterloo Bar & Grill certainly meets those criteria with knobs on. The original Wate

Isn’t Randaddy’s just the perfect name for a café restaurant in the home of Ireland’s surfing world? It’s so very Beach Boys, so perfect in every way to convey a light fun atmosphere but, as well as that, chef proprietor Randy Lewis also dishes up ..

On Tuesday 10th July, renowned craft butcher Pat Whelan is holding an evening butchery demonstration class in Avoca Monkstown, where he'll show you how to use knives safely, butcher pork and beef and give you a new found confidence and understanding ...

There is a lot of good value to be had out there on the general eatery scene if you look around. I don’t mean the Internet ‘cheap deals’, which are often not that cheap in the end. The greater value, however, does tend to be in Dublin,a factor that isnt

Tucked away on a height, overlooking the glorious Caragh Lake in Co. Kerry, just outside Killorglin, lies one of the most beautiful houses, and most perfect of romantic and magical escapes, in the country. Set on 32 acres of spectacular garden

God be with the days when the culinary experience in many hotels was universally described in one sweeping, dismissive, statement “hotel food.” It is a term that said it all - dreary ‘bad mammy’ food embellished with commercial gravy .....

THERE are very few places in this country where you can just get a cup of coffee and a cake in the evenings. It's a poor state of affairs.
Cafes tend to shut up shop anywhere between 4pm and 6pm, or alternatively they swing into restaurant mode. Option

Laissez faire was rampant during the CT years, nowhere more so than in the restaurant industry, with many chefs churning out anything they felt like in the name of 'contemporary' food at ridiculous prices.

Long long ago the legendary Dick Whittington left his rural homestead for London, with his cat, to make his fortune and ended up becoming the City’s Lord Mayor. I don’t know whether Finnish chef Mikael Viljanen has a cat, or whether he wants to be Lord M

I love gastropubs; their ethos is to offer restaurant-standard food in a casual atmosphere, as opposed to bog-standard pub grub. We were in a few places recently, starting off with lunch in the new hot, hip Black Sheep on Capel Street

Ranelagh may well be over-run with eateries of varying standards, but the recent addition of La Reserve Brasserie in the center of the village raises the bar. I had noticed this little spot, which had “Soft Opening this week” chalked’ on its window..

EVERY second person I meet tells me they have done, or are off to do the Camino -- the pilgrims' route in northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. It seems to have captured people's imagination in a big way. Many people walk sections of it each year..

Renowned Town Bar & Grill founder Ronan Ryan is back with Bite, a new fish, chips and cocktails venue, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, who found finger-licking good food, al fresco dining and friendly service

The world's best restaurant awards have taken place in London. Panel judge Lucinda O'Sullivan reports
The World's 50 Best Restaurant Awards 2012 took place last Monday night in the Guild Hall in London, following a lead-up hoopla to beat the band.

We recently had two outings to Ranelagh’s big sister - Rathgar! Ranelagh is awash with restaurants so restaurateurs are moving outwards to the fresh fields and affluent red-bricked D6 roads of Rathgar. We had set forth on a Tuesday night to the new

Red Earth is a new Lifestyle Store & Café which has added a new dimension to both shopping and eating in Mullingar. It is located in a former industrial building in Mullingar Business Park which is absolutely ideal for a day out shopping ‘til you drop

Long, long ago the legendary Dick Whittington left his rural homestead for London, along with his cat, to make his fortune and ended up becoming the city's lord mayor.I don't know whether Finnish chef Mickael Viljanen has a cat, or whether he wants...

Greystones has had a renaissance, with new and more established businesses staying afloat, says Lucinda O'Sullivan
THE once sleepy Edwardian holiday town of Greystones, Co Wicklow, has seen a burgeoning of new businesses from fashion to food and wine..

The passion for Asian Street Food rages away and there is no denying its satisfying and seductive attractions as new eateries open apace. Emmet Daly of Café Sol has entered the market with his new Neon Asian Street Food on Dublin’s Camden St....

EASTER Sunday is the perfect day to indulge in a super- duper breakfast to fortify you for all that Easter egg hunting with the kids! "Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dine like a pauper" is sage advice.

There are people who just have the knack of creating a really good eatery and make it seem like it is no bother. They dish up really good food that has flavour and taste, is satisfying and filling, good and delicious. You know it involves a lot of hard

If there is one thing that Jules and Joanne Bradbury know how to do really successfully it is to create a relaxed casual restaurant with great atmosphere that people feel they are part of and want to return to time and time again for their regular nights

The River Restaurant at Limerick Strand Hotel and Nash Wines have teamed up for an exclusive dining experience showcasing local produce matched with amazing wines by Gregory Barbet from Loron et Fils in Beaujolais, France. All produce used will be source

Some so-called hip eateries have a real attitude nowadays. Many of them have a list of conditions before they agree to accept my dosh, and it certainly never gets me off to a great start to be told, as I was when I went to book 777...

Restaurant review: Lucinda O'Sullivan is accused of being 'bizarre' after complaining to Joe Macken
Restaurant trendsetter Joe Macken should spend less time tweeting and more time training his staff, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, who is accused of being 'biza

Dave's Wood-Fired Pizza Co will be a familiar sight to many who frequent the lunchtime food markets of Dublin. These are not the great big lumpy doughy pizzas that have been slammed of late as being one of the biggest sins of all when it comes to calori

Antony Worrall Thompson hit the headlines recently for all the wrong reasons, a far cry from thirty years ago when he started Ménage a Trois, a restaurant serving only starters and desserts, which became a favourite eatery of the ménage a trois..

We got married in St. Mullin’s, a tiny village in South Carlow, and spent the first night of our honeymoon in White’s Hotel in Wexford. That was in the old days, and the funniest part of the whole event was that the Bridesmaid got a double bed, the Best

I think we could safely say that from the start of the package holiday in the 1960’s holidays to Spain were best known for sun, sea, sand and sex! Food and fun to the tourist was limited in their mind to paella, Sangria, followed up with a good belt of..

EDIBLE/MODERNIST CUISINE
Did you know that in Ireland we consume on average over 400 grams per day of beer against the world average of around 80 grams per day. On the good side we apparently also consume over 200 grams per day of oranges against the

I am writing this review on a Saturday evening, having failed to secure a table in a number of Dublin restaurants.
Well, perhaps I could have had a table if I was prepared to play the two-sittings game -- 6pm or 9pm -- or sit in the upstairs function r

FROM time immemorial jewellery has always had a fascination for people. It is the ultimate declaration of love, as we saw recently with the auction of Elizabeth Taylor's fabulous jewels, including the famous 33.19-carat diamond ri

'How would you like to be, down by the Seine with me? Oh what I'd give for a moment or two, under the bridges of Paris with you." So goes the romantic song crooned by the sultry Eartha Kitt. We can't all be under the bridges of Paris at the drop of a hat

The lush wonderful lands of Co. Meath are aptly named the Royal County for they have attracted the great and the good down through the centuries including Empress Elizabeth of Austria, a noted beauty about whom the romantic movies ‘Sissi’ were made....

When you return to a place where you have previously had a bad experience and reported on it, there is an element of stepping into the dragon's den.
You know that they are on edge when they see you, and I guess it is not a very comfortable experience a

Sex and the City seemed alive and well at Pop Up Pyg in the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre as I observed a pair of Carrie Bradshaw lookalikes engrossed in themselves and one or 10 cosmopolitans each.
There was nothing for it but for Mary and I to enter i

Brasserie Le Pont is a new restaurant tucked away in the large basement of a Georgian House on Fitzwilliam Place close to Leeson Street. Its entrance belies its size, and a lot of dosh has been spent converting it into a modern brasserie of the neutral

Bedlam is the name of May Frisby’s fabulous ‘happening’ in Castle Market. I guess if I said her restaurant was bedlam she mightn’t be too happy but, as she has named it so herself, let me say it is organised buzzy bedlam with rather good food and a fun

Temple Garner is the Godfather of New York style Modern Italian food! Having been originally at Il Primo, and the defunct Mermaid Café on Dame Street, Garner opened the New York style Modern Italian cuisine restaurant Town Bar

A lot of people have expressed interest in my wheat free regime and what I am eating. I don’t call it a diet because I am eating plenty of other foods. There is no simple answer to giving up wheat – it’s a bit like an addiction and you just have to go ‘

The much-awaited opening of Avoca's new Food Market and Cafe in Monkstown came to pass in time for Christmas, and had the denizens of the borough eagerly jostling for parking places in fear of Dun Laoghaire Corporation's dreaded team of parking wardens..

The sight of two olive trees and a perky canopy blowing in the wind tunnel that was Parliament Street, running up from the River Liffey to Dublin Castle, on a cold winter evening proved very attractive as we dashed in search of sustenance. It was early e

One of the most intriguingly beautiful areas in Ireland is tucked away off the beaten track around Caragh Lake on the Ring of Kerry. Just south of Killorglin this magnificent lake is four miles long and surrounded by heather hills, forests, and exotic

IT'S been a year of value menus and early birds, pop ups and pop offs, bloggers and blaggers.
My annual awards are a reflection of a colourful dining year for all of us. So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Lucindas 2011!

When I head off for a few days break to a coastal location what I really want of a restaurant is a relaxed ambiance, no city stress or fuss, and I always look forward to some really nice seafood. Jack’s Coastguard Restaurant at the little fishing village

There is so much shopping, preparation, cooking and partying in the lead up to and over Christmas, that I always feel the women of Ireland deserve a break immediately afterwards. This year, as New Year's Eve falls on a Saturday, you have the perfect excus

The Limerick Strand Hotel is a spanking new sleek hotel which was developed in 2007 on the site of the former Jury’s Hotel at O’Callaghan Strand in the vibrant heart of Limerick City. Some €50m went into the creation of this 7 storey ultra modern and...

ON a recent busy Saturday, more by accident than design, we stopped off for lunch at Roly's Bistro in Ballsbridge in Dublin 4. Roly's is firmly entrenched in society as a real Dublin institution....
Sitting surrounded by families, f

Small shops and businesses throughout the country are our lifeblood, and one cannot emphasise enough how important they are in our society and to our future. People who have the get-up-and-go to set up a business, working for themselves, are the people wh

It's that time of year again when family memories are set in stone. The Big City visit is still de rigueur for many -- it's so much more exciting than sitting at a computer, buying online, with none of the crowds, excited children, or that wonderful feel

The Landmark Hotel is more than aptly named for it is a truly fine landmark not only in Carrick-on-Shannon itself, but in the general region as it has achieved a huge reputation for consistent hospitality, comfort, style, service and good food. Carrick-

You would be forgiven for thinking that The Dining Room at La Stampa is beginning to sound like a pop-up restaurant. Jean Christophe Novelli pops up, Paul Flynn pops up, Conrad Gallagher pops up. All popped off -- and the latest pop-up is Ronan Ryan, pic

We now have an amazing range of Christmas markets all over the country. These homegrown markets give a lot of people in the food or crafts business the opportunity to raise some extra money this Christmas. Whether it is food or gifts...

Kevin Arundel has created his own mix of France and a Chelsea Gastropub at his Chop House at a D4 crossroads that his become a very hip place to wine and dine. He has an undoubted eye for the latest trend. Originally a chef at the Michelin starred resta

Every City in the world has a restaurant that personifies its people, a buzzy busy brasserie that is the destination for birthdays, conferrings, family celebrations, or just a good night out with good friends. In Paris it might be La Coupole, in London

Limerick is a great City which has come on in leaps and bounds in the area of food and sleek accommodation over the past four or five years making it an even more desirable destination to visit. One of the fabulous additions over this period has been...

Luckily you don’t have to be a ‘ Toad of Toad Hall’ mucking around on the river to enjoy Keenan’s of Tarmonbarry. Certainly my better half was never good on the waterways and regales us regularly about how he and six of his mates, in their single days, u

There are more hotels in Killarney than in any other town in the country, and some fabulous hotels at that. Top of the range on all fronts from comfort, luxury, friendliness, and liveability, not forgetting superb food, is the 5 Star Hotel Dunloe Castle.

I have a great regard and love for family run hotels that have been of service to their community and area for generations. We see so much of this Abroad in France and Italy but we have just as many wonderful such establishments here in Ireland.

Every Saturday morning in the heart Bunclody a group of dedicated ladies gather to sell their food and artistic produce at the Slaney Country Market. Bunclody is a very pictueresque town in itself, in North County Wexford on the Co. Carlow border.

Ever more we are veering towards the casual relaxed value dining ethos with good Tapas, Italian, and Gastropubs all flying. We have always wanted to dine like our Continental neighbours on a regular basis on reasonably priced simple food and

We can expect to see mini ‘Noma’s’ popping up worldwide faster than High Street copies of Catwalk designs over the next couple of years. Rene Redzepi’s Noma Restaurant in Copenhagen, voted the San Pellegrino World’s No. 1 Restaurant for 2010 and 2011, h

The Harlequin Hotel is a modern boutique hotel in Castlebar which is furnished in boutique style with chandeliers, plush buttonbacked feature chairs and sofas, lovely Venetian mirrors, beautiful throws, funky details, all of which are uplifting and bright

Le tout Irlande was mesmerised in 1969 when the late General and Mme de Gaulle came on a two week visit to Ireland. The paparazzi of the day ducked in and out trying to get black and white pictures of this legendary tall tall man relaxing in Connemara.

Sunday October 30 2011
'IF IT'S for you, it won't pass you by" is an old saying that certainly seems to have been the case with Eileen Dunne, and Stefano Crescenzi, who not only met and fell in love in a somewhat roundabout way but who revolutionised t

Tabletalk
We were almost elated sitting down in the new Oriental Café by the Yamamori restaurant owners in the former Bewley’s Oriental Café premises in South Great George’s Street. Here at last it seemed was the perfect, nay obvious, match for this

Glasthule Village in South County Dublin has had a real awakening with the arrival of Weafer & Cooper, an all day modern Italian style eatery, very much along the lines of Jamie Oliver’s ‘Jamie’s Italian’ neighbourhood restaurants which are opening apace

Halloween Breaks 2011
With Halloween and the Midterm Break approaching the evenings are closing in fast but it is still a time of year that gives us bright crisp days with golden autumnal leaves and is, as our American cousins say, perfect for a‘Fall..

Extravaganza is certainly not dead in Wexford if The Spires restaurant is anything to go by. All it needed was Joan Collins to waft through the doors in a cloud of big hair, shoulder pads, furs, and Dynasty jewels, and take up residence in the button back

JUST what is it about men in threes? Down through the centuries, we've had the Three Musketeers, Three Men in a Boat, Three Men in a Tub, Three Men And a Baby...
And continuing that tradition, right here in Ireland, in the pretty...

Tabletalk
“I’ve just got off a plane this morning and headed to the Guiness Storehouse otherwise my friends back in New York would never speak to me again.”So said a young scientist here for a three day conference in Trinity College as he supped his pi

Extravaganza is certainly not dead in Wexford if The Spires restaurant is anything to go by. All it needed was Joan Collins to waft through the doors in a cloud of big hair, shoulder pads, furs, and Dynasty jewels, and take up residence...

Today sees the culmination of the 35th Kinsale Gourmet Festival -- an idea that was started out way back in 1976 by a group of enterprising restaurateurs and hoteliers and which has become one of the longest running food festivals in the country

Cafes and bakeries have been doing very well in these times, especially those combined with bakeries because people find the alluring aroma of freshly baked breads and cakes irresistible. We have a very special relationship with the cafes...

Despite the recession, restaurants are opening apace and you have to commend people for their enterprise. Indeed, it seems the heat had barely left the kitchen at Conrad Gallagher’s former Salon des Saveurs premises on Aungier Street, than a new boy was

Lorraine Heskin and Lorraine Byrne are two young ladies with a passion for delicious food of which they have an extraordinary knowledge. They opened their first Gourmet Food Parlour on Cumberland Street in Dun Laoire, not far from where I live in 2006.

Best friends Sinead Ni Riain and Jacqueline Lanigan Ryan have more than their surname in common. Both were brought up as only girls in families with five and six brothers respectively, and both work using their artistic talents and sensory skills.

Tabletalk
I have always loved watching how the French do Sunday lunch. It is sacrosanct. Extended family and friends of all ages sit around just doing what was intended for the Seventh Day - resting and renewing themselves. Sunday lunch is a great...

Shane McEntee, TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with responsibility for Food, Horticulture & Food Safety and Eileen Bentley from Bord Bia (right) presented Kitty Colchester from Second Nature Oils in Kilkenny (ce

People not living in Dublin tend generally to think of the City as one big urban sprawl whereas, in fact, the heart and soul of our Fair City are the various villages which comprise Dublin and Co. Dublin. I think of places like Glasnevin, Finglas, Howth,

We can expect to see mini ‘Noma’s’ popping up worldwide faster than High Street copies of Catwalk designs! Rene Redzepi’s Noma Restaurant in Copenhagen, voted the San Pellegrino World’s No. 1 Restaurant for 2010 and 2011, has dazzled chefs as no other....

'I'm holding out for two nights and if I don't get them, then I'll take one night," said the man on the other end of the phone at Gregans Castle, Co Clare, as I tried to book a double room with dinner for the recent bank holiday Saturday night.

Names can sometimes lead you off course but in this case I have to say I was even more pleasantly surprised. Expecting the new Black ‘n’ Blue Grill in Wicklow town to be serving a typical modern grill menu of ginormous steaks, prawn cocktails, and so on,

“No problem, I’ll change it for you” should surely have been “sorry, I’ll change it for you” from the lady in charge in the new Herring Gull Restaurant in Ballycotton, on my pointing out lipstick on a wine glass. Equally mystifying was her whipping away

Each year, for many years past, I have taken myself on what I call my own ‘Last Rose of Summer’ trip driving from Killarney, through Moll’s Gap to Kenmare, and on over through the tunnels and unparelled mountainous vistas over hill and bay that lead you..

Eggs Benedict is one of my favourite breakfast treats and nobody knows this better than Kate O’Sullivan, Derek Breen and Veronica Muresan! How do they know this you might well ask? Well Kate, Derek and Veronica were all in the Brown Thomas Café where I

Jonathan Ross devoted the opening chapter of his book “Why Do I Say These Things” to the ‘joys’ of Mexican food he experienced on a trip ‘South of the Border…’. As you might imagine, Mr Ross pulled no punches and in his inimitable way was fully descript

We are winding down in August from what one might euphemistically have referred to as High Summer ever so gently into Autumn. People are getting kids organised for school and college but, for the culinary community and many towns around the country, this

Mark and Alan Cadden are not newbies when it comes to the game of food for they were brought up in the industry whilst their parents owned the well known Asgard Pub in Westport. Their brother also went into the food industry and owns the very popular Sab

Want to sample food cooked by a chef who worked for the top London Moroccan restaurant ‘Moro’ or authentic dishes from Korea? Look no further than the Food Markets of Dublin where nowadays you will find a huge range of delicious street food from all over

Between them you might say that Yannick Van Aeken and Louise Bannon have captured two of the most sought after jobs in the culinary world. Yannick Van Aeken is Sous Chef at the charasmatic Rene Redzepi’s Noma Restaurant in Copenhagen whilst Louise Bannon

“I gave myself five years from the date of my retirement to have my own one man show devoted to sculpture, and in this ambition I have succeeded” says artist and sculptor Niall Harkin. Niall’s solo exhibition “Votive Offerings”....

It takes real guts and endeavour to set up a business the size and proportion of Fallon & Byrne. Paul Byrne and his wife, the former journalist Fiona McHugh, took an enormous leap of faith when, in 2006, they took over the massive old Art Deco style Tele

Although they didn’t meet until College in Limerick when they were 17, Lorraine Heskin and Lorraine Byrne not only share the same Christian names, both are from the West of Ireland, with Lorraine Heskin’s dad having come from Lorraine Byrne’s home village

We have all been getting back to basics in Ireland, no where more so than restaurants where the trend is towards the casual, so the new Hen House restaurant at The Pavilions in Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, has you chowing down all American style folksey.

Travelling around the country quite a lot, as I do, I am seeing that the times we are in has brought about a huge level of innovation and co-operation between people, which was perhaps a quality that was missing in us during those unreal Celtic Tiger Year

Tabletalk
“It’s very cold in Perpignan”, said the friendly young French waiter – it was cold here too but I was so delighted to spot Marseillaise anchoiade on the menu, I smiled blissfully back. Surrounded by wine racks in the perfect oasis that is t

There is more than a touch of drama at Judith O’Sullivan’s stunning Atelier ‘Roisin Cross Silks’ for not only have they supplied the silks for the magnificent costumes of ‘Henry V111’ himself, as played by sexy Jonathan Rhys Myers, and th

Approaching through the Atlantic mist and haze of the mystical wild beauty of West Clare, the cluster of houses and main building that comprise The Lodge at Doonbeg Golf Club appeared shimmering and inviting like the mythical village of Brigadoon. This

Food Tourism
The importance of Food Tourism cannot be emphasised quite enough. It is a huge market which has not been recognised sufficiently in the past in promoting Ireland as a food destination. It only recently that there is even a vague nod to th

Just as I made a reprise visit to the First Floor Restaurant at Harvey Nichols, it was announced that we are in for a revival of TV’s ‘Absolutely Fabulous’. It seems a lifetime ago since Patsy and Edina flaunted themselves around London, Bolly Stolly i

The Green Barn Café Bistro is in a lovely building which always reminds somehow or other of the R.D.S. at Simmonscourt with its equestrian style weathervane and perfectly maintained pretty grounds where you can also sit outside, weather permitting, and ha

Lisdoonvarna is not just for matchmaking, surfing and taking the waters, for nowadays you can also eat rather well, as we discovered on a recent visit to the area for the Burren Slow Food Festival. They weren’t blessed with the weather on the day, which

A business alliance is like a marriage, and every bit as painful when it comes to the divorce! I think it can be said that the proponents in the latest cullinary alliance, ‘Head Chef’ Conrad Gallagher, and Louis Murray, at The Dining Room at La Stampa...

Cheryl Cole was not the only one returning from the U.S.A. with a flea in her ear for Jamie Oliver has also had his ‘cough softened’ by the Yanks! But then I guess it’s somewhat of a mammoth task for a Brit to land on the shores of the most powerful nati

I could see that none of the cakes I bought in were as nice as those I could make myself. I always had a flair for baking - big apple tarts, brown wholemeal bread - that’s what we were reared on as a lot of people are – soups and stews, bacon an

Having departed the good folks of Sixmilebridge we headed to Bunratty Castle & Folk Park, which I had not visited for many many years and it, was a great experience. Bunratty Castle was built in 1425 and was home to the Earls of Thomond. In 1646 it was

Sligo is a very busy town traffic wise and if you are not in the know when it comes to where to head for that really delicious bite to eat, or coffee and scone, after you have visited Yeat’s grave, or just been simply shopping, well let me tell you, Lyons

Your stomach turns over, your palms sweat, you don’t hear what anyone is saying, you are convinced you have just signed your own death warrant, and that is only when you book your airline ticket! Does that sound familiar to you? I talk of course about

Brasserie Le Pont is a new restaurant owned by one Michael Kelly and is part of the Fitzwilliam Hall Business Centre. Tucked away in the large basement of a Georgian House on Fitzwilliam Place close to Leeson Street, its entrance belies its size, and it

‘Tis not very often you leave a restaurant awarding it in your own mind 2 Badges of Distinction-Best Seafood platter in Ireland and Best Value seafood in Ireland. This is how we felt having left the new Crazy Crab Seafood Bistro and Café at Kilmore Quay

What child and adult does not have magical dreams and memories, a desire to live in the fantasy world of the Disneyland Castle where dreams come true, where frogs turn into Princes, where Cinderella arrives to the ball wearing glass slippers, where Snow W

In an episode of the TV Show ‘Frasier’, the irrepressible Crane brothers have a stab at opening a restaurant where, midst first night high jinks, the mythical food critic, Gil Chesterton, arrives blathering “I don’t usually review on first nigh

Ray Byrne, Jane English and the team at Wineport Lodge are throwing the bash of the year this June to assist their colleague and friend - the loveable Maitre D’- John Healy of RTE’s ‘The Restaurant’ who is seriously ill and requires a heart transplant.

Chapter One is to Irish Restaurants what Rafa Nadal is to the tennis courts of the world - invincible! Ross Lewis and his team have done it again with Chapter One winning Best Restaurant 2011. Well done guys!

British Prime Minister David Cameron has taken the unprecedented step of appointing a retail expert, 'Queen of Shops' Mary Portas, to save the British high street.
Ireland has a host a retailers and business people who could do a similar job for the mo

Just as Mary 'Queen of Shops' Portas has been roped in to help the British government revive the flagging high streets and bring a bustle back to town centres, so too some Bridget Banrion of Boutiques is needed here to put a rocket under local authorities

Parknasilla Resort on the Ring of Kerry has long been one of the jewels in the crown of Irish Tourism. Built in the mid 18thC on a sub-tropical 500 acre estate, overlooking an inlet of the Kenmare River, with the Gulf Stream nibbling at its toes, it has

Arriving for dinner with Houston based Paul, who spends his life flying from New York to Naples,Peking to Paris,Seoul to Sydney,he felt quite at home striding through the vast Hemidemisemiquaver Bar and on to the section that is Coda Eatery.“Good Airport"

Having ‘Met the Middletons’ in all their glory in recent weeks, and with the Queen coming to grips with new additions to the family tree, it occurred to me that she might care to meet her long lost cousins, the Stewarts, when she comes to Ireland...

‘Downstairs’ is a new restaurant at Gilbert & Wright in Clontarf on sea, located where the old Hollybrook Hotel once stood. Gilbert & Wright have hip ‘1970’s style bars also in Malahide, Swords, and Dun Laoghaire. ‘Downstairs’, as you may gather, is a sub

Last week saw the announcement of the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2011. What is quite extraordinary is not the fact that Rene Redzepi’s ‘Noma’, the much lauded restaurant in Copenhagen, has been voted No. 1 Restaurant in the World for the

I guess it’s quite some time since a restaurant of size and import has opened in the centre of Cork, and on The Mall to boot. In recent times the focus for such openings had centered on Lapps Quay, with The Boardwalk Bar & Grill and Augustine’s joining t

Hopefully all of you on this Easter are basking somewhere nice around the country. Basking leads me to Fungi’s home territory of Dingle and the Global Village Restaurant whose chef patron, Martin Bealin, along with his wife Nuala Cassidy, is also very mu

One of the longest standing businesses and best known characters in the town is Jack McCarthy of the eponymous McCarthy’s Butchers. Jack is a very pro-active artisan food producer, and a great public relations man for Kanturk. He is the fifth generation

It’s a case of the two ‘Fs’ this week in two parts of the country – lunch in both The French Table in Limerick and The Fatted Calf in Athlone. Taking time for a proper lunch is a very civilized thing which unfortunately many of us do not have time to do

As a part time resident of Kinsale and a regular visitor to East Cork I guess you could say we are always on the whirl around looking for different places to eat in both areas. Nowadays too we really like to dine in a more informal fashion than years ago

Take one great Georgian Quarter, a great Georgian House, a lady with a great eye for style, detail and elegance, and you have No. 1 Pery Square, undoubtedly one of the coolest destinations in the country. Patricia Roberts recognised the potential of th

I have always maintained that if you do good honest seafood without mucking it around too much, a restaurant will always do well for people love it. Add to that the other most popular cuisine, a taste of Italy that is, and you are really on a winner. Ad

The well known restaurateur, Tom O’Connell, who was previously in Ballsbridge, came up with a fantastic location for his new restaurant O’Connells in Donnybrook – in the former Madigan’s pub on Morehampton Road and corner of Belmont Avenue.
Madigan’s was

We used all hear of the old Wartime spirit in the U.K. and how everyone pulled together, we may not be in that type of war but in our economic war we are seeing this happen here too, people are not as pushy or dismissive of your business as they were in t

We were impressed walking into the smart new D2 version of the Tipperary based Matt The Thresher’s eating and drinking emporium, in what was the former Pembroke Pub on Lower Pembroke Street. Billed as a Seafood Bar & Grill, MTTD2 is urban chic gastropub

On a recent visit to East Cork we headed for Gilbert’s Restaurant & Townhouse in Cobh. Now, Cobh is a really beautiful little town, with its neo Gothic Pugin Cathedral, and poignant nautical history. What it has lacked, until now, has been a decent res

In a short three years Pat O’Sullivan has created one of the most dynamic Café restaurant chains in Limerick and happily intends expanding far and wide. Pat O’Sullivan is no newcomer to the food industry so he really knows what he is about and what his cu

The village of Adare in Co. Limerick with its extraordinarily picture postcard pretty thatched roofs has long been a destination for tourists and home visitors alike. At the heart of Adare is a very hard working and enterprising business community who..

People sometimes forget, in the great urban sprawl that is the Dublin of nowadays, that at the heart of many suburban areas are the old villages that once made up the very distinctive villages on the outskirts of Dublin. I think of places like Raheny..

There are lots of restaurants in Kilkenny but the food in the Hibernian's City Bar & Grill is considered by many to be one of the best around. You can expect maybe to feast on delicious seafood chowder to start or sauteed Dublin Bay prawns in garlic oil w

Sandra and Peter Dunlea are a charming couple who have a particular gift for creating atmosphere, nostalgia, and style, in each of their restaurants. They are behind the fabulous Miss Courtney’s Tearooms in the centre of Killarney

February is the month of the Seville Tapas Festival but, whatever about that, Ole! Ole! Ole! was alive and well in Dublin when we arrived on a Friday evening to the new Cafébar H at Grand Canal Plaza. The place was heaving with 20-somethings – mainly gir

Kenmare has a really special place in tourism in Ireland, it is pretty, friendly, offers a myriad of things to do and see not only in the town but as a base for working out around Kerry. We all go there for great weekends and holidays. It offers also a

One of the good things that came about during the Celtic Tiger years was a great increase in art across the spectrum. Galleries boomed. Everybody wanted art on their walls be it massive paintings or massive prints. In essence whether or not it was origina

When it comes to food, their Casey’s Bar and Bistro produces excellent modern cuisine, both Irish and International, using and best of local and seasonal produce. Having perhaps just done the Ring of Kerry you will be hungry so for dinner you can start th

A really nice bunch of people gathered together to meet me and show me their produce at Nora and John Egan’s fine Georgian Mansion, Inch House Country House and Restaurant, just outside Thurles in Co. Tipperary, which not only has a lovely restaurant but

Sandymount has recently had the addition of a new Indian restaurant in the form of Indie Spice. When I say ‘new’ it is not a totally new concept but rather a new branch of a long established group. Indie Spice started out with a restaurant in Belfast

Last Tuesday morning, it was a case of synchronise your watches for, at 11.40 a.m. precisely, not a second earlier not a second later, Michelin announced on its website the recipients of its stars and bib gourmands for Great Britain and Ireland 2011. I g

“11 out of 10” said a departing diner to the Maitre d’ in the new Locks Brasserie overlooking the Grand Canal at Portobello and its gliding swans. He was right and, from the cross table conversation he had been enjoying with another solo gentleman, it ap

Well we all know the old joke “when the going gets tough the Irish go on holidays.” So it struck me was the case over the Christmas/New Year period.We have had a couple of years of restaurants telling us how much they have been suffering with the dow

You might have thought that 2010 was a dull year for restaurants but life on the restaurant scene is never dull as chefs and restaurateurs vie for business. My Awards 2010 reflect the good, the bad, and the ugly, of a Restaurant Critic’s year!

We have all been watching with fascination the romantic happenings of life in the fictional Great House, Downton Abbey, but it would be true to say that life in the real world of Farmleigh and Wilbury Park, former homes of Miranda, Countess of Iveagh..

Christmas Markets are the buzz this year and there are lots around the country be they one day events or weekly in the lead up to the big day.In Dublin there is a new Christmas Market at Fitzwilliam Square this year with over 70 stalls lit up by more tha

Guess what? The traditional Aran sweater, a la Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers, is back in high fashion and on the catwalks of Europe. When I say traditional, I mean traditional, and not in the funky funky revival way of 10 or 15 yea

With the kids firmly ensconced at their school desks this is the time when dedicated booze cruisers set sail for La Belle France to stock up the cellars for autumn. There is no doubt but that you save an awful lot of money on wine in France.

For the past fifteen years our TV screens have been literally awash with cookery programmes from the sublime to the ridiculous. We have had the Two Fat Ladies, doling out colonial style ‘receipts’ with Jennifer dipping her grotesquely painted finger

The French may think they are very chi chi but they have yet to cotton on to decent beds – that is unless you are staying in the Ritz! We now take for granted our high off the floor superking beds with orthopoedic mattresses and it is only after a night

We all remember in the movie Pretty Woman how the suave Hotel Manager came to the aid of “Vivian”, played by Julia Roberts, when she needed a special gown for the ball with Richard Gere’s character “Edward”. He had been somewhat disapproving initially of

Without any F-words, tantrums, or attention seeking antics, one of the best known, most talented and, above all, most respected names in the Irish culinary world undoubtedly has to be Colin O’Daly. Most would associate Colin O’Daly with Roly’s Bistro..

Wednesday 14 October 2009
We're delighted to announce the launch of the revamped, primped and preened LucindaOSullivan.com, my online Little Black Book of not only Great Places to Stay and Eat, but also Great Restaurants to Eat in too.